The Real Folk Blues
by crestofawesome165
Summary: Tai returns to his home of Odaiba, living on his own due to a family quarrel. His school is a prestigious academy, where almost anything can happen; mood swings, fights, make ups and break ups, teenage angst and so on. How will he ever fit in?
1. Chapter 1

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and Bandai, and I have no rights to claim it as my own.

Been reading manga classic GTO or Great Teacher Onizuka and figured I'd give the high school drama genre a go. Not sure how extreme back stories might be if I do go on with it, though, so start as a T.

* * *

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**THE TURBULANCE OF A KAMIYA**

* * *

_Time for another big move, huh? _Tai sluggishly thought, tossing several clothes into his suitcase for what had to be the second time this year. He had only just found a close friend, and now he had to rinse, wash and repeat in a new town, Odaiba.

He was born there, but after his mom and dad got turbulent, he was forced to live alone in a tiny apartment in Kyoto under the guise of greater prospects.

He did not want to recall how it had happened, but all he would allow others who asked to know was that he was caught one night, a sixteen year old when it had happened, driving without a licence.

Why was a none factor, but after he was bailed out, he was kicked out, his dad aggravated that same night by a major 'parent thing' that went down while he tried solo drag racing.

Sure, he was cast out, but his place was paid for, not that it cost much to start with, and his food expenses were paid by credit card instalments paid by his mother, but still, he missed home. He missed his little sister Kari most of all; she was still a minor and wouldn't be cast out the same way legally, so she stayed.

In truth, he was glad. He was returning to Odaiba for another 'parent reason', even to the same area, but he would still live in his own apartment. A plus for this part of the deal was that he would go to the same prestigious academy his sister now attended and planned to live at.

The Tenchu Academy for Advanced Learning. Yes, the Japanese of it was unpleasant, but it was prestigious enough that only the best and brightest got in.

Why in Buddha's glorious name he was going there was beyond him, but according to the letter he got from mom and dad, someone offered to take up his tuition fees, on the grounds that they be kept a secret from him. He was really tired of the secrets his family held from him now.

All of this swirled in his head as he finally stuffed his suitcase full of his stuff, leaving a little stink bomb in the closed toilet for the new tenants. He was moving miles away, why not? Kyoto was distant and he personally felt sick at the obnoxious chicks and total dicks in his school.

His mind went a blur next, as he handed in his keys to that snobbish manager, stood at the bus station forever, and finally got on the bus to Odaiba at nightfall, falling into a dreary sleep on the very rear corner seat, only two others on the bus with him and the driver.

oOo

Hours multiplied by miles later, he awoke with the juddering halt of the bus; he had arrived at the station at last.

Stepping off with his suitcase and backpack, Tai walked across to the service station, getting the most trustworthy water he could find in the desolate stands.

"Man… my head is killing me…" he grumbled, walking up to the cashier and forking over what little he had in his pockets. Walking out, he found his way down the street, finally taking notice of the fact that the dawn had only broken, "Aw geez…"

Slinging his backpack before him, he clutched randomly inside, pulling out a folded map of Odaiba, unfolding it and holding it before him, looking at it as if the paper had grace and majesty.

He pinpointed the station, "What? Shinbashi? That's still a ways off!"

The bus had mis-interpreted what 'to Odaiba' meant, clearly!

He would need one of three things; a cab, a miracle or a friend to pick him up.

Slumping down on a bus shelter bench alone, he realized three flaws; one, he had just wasted his money on that stupid bottle, two, he and God had their disagreements, namely that his life was devoid of splendour, and three, he had friends in junior high when he was here, but they probably forgot him in middle school.

He had fallen with a bad crowd last year, and most of them strayed away.

It was mostly peer pressure that made him drive that night and begin his constant shifting.

"Aw, man…" he knew what he had to do, but he didn't like it. Rifling in his pocket, he retrieved his mobile, snapping it open and dialling that dreaded number, "… Mom? Hey, it's me…"

oOo

Two hours later, Tai had fallen asleep precariously on the bench, but wiped his eyes and awoke, quickly checking his belongings; money, check. Bag, check. Suitcase full of crap, checkaroo.

"What about your pants?"

Tai snapped into action, looking down and thankfully finding his jeans still there, a soft giggle behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he found his mom had hidden beside the bench.

"How are you doing, honey?"

"F-fine…" he weakly replied, not really meeting the soft gaze. Things became understandably awkward with his relocation, "How you been, mom?"

His mom was just as energetic as he used to be, burning chocolate eyes and matching hair colour draped over her Teflon overcoat, orange shirt and crème coloured khaki shorts.

"Oh, it's been alright for me, sweety. Kari and I are throwing you a little celebration at your new humble abode; poor dear's been holding down the fort for two solid hours; we best hurry!"

"Yeah."

As he staggered with his suitcase dragging sluggishly behind him, he looked suspiciously at his mom's serene face; she hadn't mentioned his dad at all…

A minute later, Tai was practically dragged by the wrist over to his mother's new car, a flame red Ford Fiesta. Not luxurious, but it beat the crap out of her old, dented car.

He looked it over for a second, on auto pilot as he put his belongings in the spacious trunk, "Where'd you get this from, mom?"

Her face fell across the car, the pair getting in. She looked at him with shame before starting the engine, "A lot happened, so I need you to listen, okay sweetums?"

Her son turned feverishly red, "Can you seriously calm down with the baby names?" he said in embarrassment, "I mean, it's not that I hate it, per say… it's just that I'm only a few months off of being seventeen and all…"

As the car began to move and scenery shifted quickly before him, he still saw that same look of sadness on her face.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

Firmly focused on driving, she came out almost robotically, "Last year after the… family dispute, and you were sent away, your father and I began drifting, even though it was a drunken mistake and we still loved one another… we are currently on a trial separation, Taichi. He is seeing other people, and I am seeing other people to better understand where we're going to go from here on. He still agrees to paying a handsome instalment to me and Kari since his promotion every month, which resulted in the car."

Tai was beyond vexed, "I've been living on scraps in that shithole corner of Kyoto while he's been off scratching the old itch?"

His mother threw him a dirtied look, making him silent as she turned the corner to the freeway.

"Listen… sweetie, things have been strained ever since that night… your father is a sweet man, but he blew out from both things happening. He just wanted to ensure you'd be safe in case he did blow out. He was secretly vying for the promotion back then."

Tai scoffed lowly, his mother deciding to leave it until he had eaten to talk.

Remembering the propaganda ads, Tai flipped open his phone again, opening the option for 'MESSAGES' and looking for spam.

The screen was somewhat like this.

'Have you claimed for that accident you had yet? Suffering

from a broken leg because of somebody-

**DELETE.**

Do you like hot pictures? Do maids do it for you?

well check out the promotion photos for the Maid Café opening here in Odaiba!

**STORED FOR LATER VIEWING.**

Message received from 102694 768.'

Tai was a little wierded out by that, pressing open and finding this.

TAICHI KAMIYA

Hello,

You might not remember me, and it was a hassle to get your number from old friends,

but don't think this is a stalker or anything.

My name is Izzy Izumi, the current head of the student council body at Tenchu Academy.

We went to elementary together before I moved, but onto the point, your living arrangements

have been accepted by the school for 'special reasons' including your family, but for the first

week, you'll be accompanied by another council member to find the school from your place of living.

He'll swing by tomorrow morning to pick you up.

He's a blonde called Matt Ishida.

Looking forward to seeing you again.

IZZY IZUMI

DATED APRIL 3RD AT 18:35 AM'

"Mom," Tai asked fearfully, finding this was sent at the start of his day long bus ride, "What day does school start?"

She was quick, not diverting attention from the road, "Today. You have to be ready within the first hour we're there, sweetums. I thought you'd have saved up for a cab, but evidently not."

It was a dream. It couldn't be true.

"But I was at school yesterday in Kyoto!" he complained.

"I think you'll find those were remedial lessons. The school term starts today nearly everywhere."

There was only one logical response to that sweet smile… oh, was he sick of her sweetness in everything.

"**WHAAAAT?** **YOU GOT ME TO COME BACK TODAY ON PURPOSE FOR THAT?**" no choice; bluff, "**I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN THE LAST TWO DAYS!**"

An omniscient smile curled on her face, "You seem to forget you woke up with me next to you, not to mention that the bus driver mentioned to me that you were sleeping too sweetly to wake up for any of the pit-stops."

"You watched your own son sleep at a bus shelter? Are you human?"

"Sweetie, I'm a mother; I'll do anything to relive those precious little moments when you were a baby sleeping helplessly."

"And if I was mugged while you watched?"

"Sweetums, you have nothing of value on you. Besides, I used to steal your pacifier for a giggle!"

"**EVIL!**" Tai accused the driver, his voice thick and husky in the small space.

She took one hand from the wheel, pointing at him, "Evil's spawn." She giggled.

She had an answer for everything… damn… next subject, maybe a rest day! She couldn't win at that!

oOo

Boy, Tai had been decimated in every subject he could think of. She had a joke or comeback for everything.

It was two unholy hours of banter-ific travel later, the pair had arrived back in Odaiba, the traffic holding them back before Tai's new apartment building; it was like Odaiba Mansions, stacked twelve stories high like a cake with veranda like terraces of concrete and not much rain damage. It must've been built here recently, like Tai being gone kind of recently.

The district was the same as his old home, so it wasn't far off from family this time.

Pulling up into the front car entrance, Tai's mom picked the closest out of three empty boxes, inserting her precious car gently in and ordering Tai to be gentle upon exiting; no scratches or dents on these doors!

"Hey, mom, I forgot to ask," he began before the glass doors in to the main lobby, "what floor am I on?"

She smiled, wresting his bag from him and carrying it inside, "The eighth floor on the left hand side; I gotta tell you sweetie, that place is just as fancy as our home!"

_So it's deafly average… _he realized, following his mom down the short corridor and to the right, a silver, mechanised door opening before them. It was an elevator with either a motion sensor or really good manners.

Unfortunately it was the latter and not a cool sensor. Rather, it was timing. But he still felt regal and important, vital after the verbal debate debacle over the last two hours alone.

With a gentle ping, the elevator closed behind them, Tai doing the honours of pressing the big red '8', feeling weight leave his legs for a few seconds before the doors opened again with a shuddering halt, the pair walking out into the plain white corridor, lined with a few doors of various types and colours.

Walking to the left, they came to the final door, a navy blue wood door with a fake gold plaque engraved '24', the apartment number.

"Well, I've got work to get to~!" his mom announced, dropping the backpack and skipping off back to the still open elevator.

_She's out of her mind… some welcome party she was having! _Tai looked down at the door knob, grabbing and slowly twisting it as if it were a bomb trigger, _I know she said my keys were with Kari in there, but what do I say to Kari? It's been so long, and I haven't spoken to her once, mostly because of that shitty apartment's phone line…_

The sixteen year old finally mustered his courage, sliding it open without a creak and peering inside.

It was… beautiful to behold… relatively high ceilings, a kitchen unit to the left like home's, a plasma HD lying in wait for him and a large bunching couch around it in an L shape with four shadows siting on it… wait, four? NOT ONE?

The sight horrified him!

His L couch was defiled by two teens locked in a deep embracing kiss, one spiky haired kid throwing the dude in the tangled mess the evils and one purple haired girl adjusting her lunar sized glasses! He was shocked that the bridge of those things wasn't draping the American flag!

Apparently he went unnoticed, so he slipped his suitcase beside the door, gently lowering his bag as well, closing the none creaking door and hiding behind the wall that separated the living area and kitchen.

"Hey, Kari… when's your brother meant to be here? We have to get back to our dorms and pretend we didn't sneak out soon!" The spiky headed one sporting rectangular goggles pointed out in his flame jacket and brown shorts. Did he realize he dressed like a moron or was it part of his act?

"Don't worry, Davis," he heard his sister's voice which, to his horror, came after she untied herself from the blonde kid, "he's always been reliable… besides, he has his first day today."

The purple haired girl shot up, "After a bus ride all the way from Kyoto? Is he an energy freak?"

"Sounds like an idiot move if you ask me…" this Davis kid voiced. Tai could see it in his head right now; leap over the wall and kill the kid. Amazing in theory, but why not observe / eavesdrop some more?

The blonde pulled away from Kari on the couch and looked incredulous, "Coming from the one whose failing in his advanced Physical Education because he stretched his crotch."

"A groin injury! I said a groin injury! It happens all the time to soccer players of my calibre!" Tai could tell by the octave that he was likely bright red; the others were giggling after all, "You can't make fun T.E! You cried when we watched 'Code Geass's' ending!"

"DUDE!"

Yolei, the purple haired girl, input snobbishly, "Boys and anime… you otaku freaks, it isn't cool!"

"Neither is Tai not showing! We finished the bottle in a game of 'I Never' in the time since he was supposed to arrive!" Davis deflected, almost begging Tai to leap up right now.

A booze game mere hours before the start of term? Although partially his fault, his sister needed to be embarrassed to ensure it didn't happen again.

Jumping up, he still wasn't noticed by the four bored teens, "You idiots realize I can hear every syllable, right?"

Kari, TK, Davis and Yolei fell from the couch, their heart seemingly pulsing out of their chests on the floor. Tai's haughty laugh beckoned them all to stand and scowl at him behind the L shape seat, the girl still grasping their left breasts in surprise.

"**TAI!**" Kari frowned, still panting, causing her voice to be deep and dark, "**HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?**"

Ignoring the growl, her brother pointed first at Davis, "Long enough to know he's an idiot with an erectile dysfunction," he shifted the finger to Yolei, "she's got the attitude and chest of a man," to TK, with his middle finger indicating Kari, "and that my dear baby sister has fallen to being a kiss-o-gram with an interest of smelling like booze on her first day of school."

"I DON'T HAVE AN ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION!" Davis roared back at his elder teen, red from both anger and embarrassment.

Tai looked like a ditz on purpose, tapping his chin, "Oh, your right… but I did hear that you have funny stuff wrong with your sweet spot."

Yolei was so completely red it was cute; in Tai's mind, he added steam from her ears as a laugh, "I DO NOT! I'M A RESPECTABLE LADY! PLUS I HAVE A ROCKIN' BOD!"

What planet was she from? Dimtopia?

He just couldn't resist, "You've got the smoothness of a surfboard. Why don't you and I go to the sea, enjoy a wave or two?" he giggled, turning to Kari, "Listen, I'm sorry, all of you, but I want you to remember this happening so you won't do it at the start of next year, you got me? Davis, I play soccer too, and trust me, you toughen up in that area, and Yolei… well, do you want me to say something, 'cause it'll only be made worse if I mention it."

Understanding but still beetroot shaded, she shook her head, pretending to be lifting the collar of her shirt up as a cover to… well, her covering.

Kari was still sour behind the couch, "You still didn't have to surprise and mock us…"

"No, but I do feel the urge to kill your boyfriend… T.E, was it?"

The blonde scratched his head nervously, "TK… what you said is true, Davis isn't the brightest bulb."

Tai walked around the kitchen unit wall and into his apartment's living space, his strong legs kicking off and leaping over his couch, his rear firmly planted as his eyes met the offending bottle on his coffee table.

Grabbing it, Tai realized there was scarcely anything left though. But like a child, he always tried to bleed a stone, milk a dead cow, whatever the saying was back then…

Davis grabbed Tai's wrist, stopping him from drinking, "That's mine though…"

"Careful kid, that's my beer swilling _and _my bitch tossing arm," Tai grinned evilly, gulping down the trace remnants of the beer bottle and looking back at the lined up trio, "you can come anytime, just not when I'm told I have school to go to after a day long bus ride from Kyoto."

"Y-yeah… about that… you have three hours to get ready, and we have to hurry back to our dorm rooms now."

Yolei's sudden revelation startled him. Looking up at the digital clock above his TV, he read '05:26'. No rest for the wicked, he assumed.

Without further incident, the three visitors said goodbye until later that day at the entrance ceremony. Tai waved back at them, turning back to Kari, who looked conflicted about leaving.

"Listen, Tai…" she began, "we really need to talk later… about dad. There's a possibility they'll get divorced!"

"Goodbye, Kari." He firmly intercepted, waving up at her. With a small smile, she bounced off in pursuit of her friends, closing the door behind her with a small bang, "Time to unpack my crap and wait for this Matt dude, I guess."

oOo

Tai's room now looked more homely; the four walled, wardrobe and bed filled room was considerably bigger than the one in Kyoto, similar in size to his room back home. He had pasted the wall with blu-tac, resulting in foreign posters for bands such as Daughtry and Oasis, in addition to the Asian Kung Fu Generation and a poster of a blue lion's head with a black mane, with the text running between its teeth as 'ODAIBA LIONHEARTS', his former team.

In the wardrobe amongst his other clothes was is mother's gift; an Academy uniform, which he quickly put on while awaiting a text from Matt.

The uniform was a white, long sleeved shirt with a navy and dark blue striped tie beneath his black blazer with the shield and crest over his heart, running down the colour with his black pants. While his large, puffy hair would be awkward in such stellar clothes, he figured he'd adjust.

Walking into his living room, Tai found his empty backpack that he intended to fill today waiting, the clock stricken at '07:45'. Figuring a few more minutes was needed, he flicked on the TV.

The first channel to come on was the news as a local report sifted through.

Tai was in time to catch the last of this though,

'And so, the Black Swan Institution of Abused Children will be

demolished within the next two months after a long

time caring for the ill healthed and abused children of Odaiba's Natsu District due to financial

pressure…'

The Natsu District was this district, renamed while Tai was gone. Man did he hate the idea; it used to rain all the time here, so how could it be Natsu?

Although, he had passed by that home for abused kid a few times years ago. They were dead in the eyes, and it always made him thankful for his family being tolerant and kind.

Sure enough, a minute later, a vibration filtered through his leg, Tai pulling his phone from his pocket and reading the message he had received.

'TAICHI KAMIYA

Downstairs, I'm waiting beside my car.

Ready for your first day? Tenchu isn't exactly a normal school, y'know.

Explain along the way.

MATT ISHIDA

DATED APRIL 4TH AT 07:40 AM'

Tai snorted at his phone, grabbing the weightless back pack and slinging it over his shoulders, _Not a normal school? Please not some dysfunctional bullshit like Kyoto again. If there are gangs, hooker attitude girls and annoying pansies, I'm out, _He vowed in his head, shutting and locking the door on his way out.

* * *

**A/N: **I've always wanted to try a high school drama sort of story, so I might as well try it before College starts and weighs me down. At least I can say 'I did that'.

So, what'd you think?


	2. Chapter 2

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**SATAN'S PLAYGROUND**

* * *

Wow.

That was all that could be said from Tai. Outside the front entrance in his school uniform and wearing his empty backpack, he found Matt rather quickly.

He wore the uniform, that was clue one, but he was contrasted against his car like a blemish on a face; the car was amazing, a well-polished silver Viper, an amazing sports car which Tai was sure had a reclining roof and could shoot off at up to excess of 160 miles.

As for the fellow student of the academy, Matt had curtains of blonde hair falling down around his head like drapes, and if it weren't for the toned, masculine face, he could easily be mistaken gender wise for a second, Tai thought; no male he had ever met placed that much effort into their hair.

"Hey, you're Tai?" He asked as he noticed the soccer player walk toward his sweet ride, "Best get going, I'll have to take the freeway and break 70 to get there now."

The interior was leather! Tai loved the feel of the passenger seat, and noticed the dashboard and instruments were without a speck of dust.

A car cleaning OCD?

Those thoughts abated when Matt sat in the driver's seat, hooking up his safety belt and twisting the key in the ignition, a small purr coming from the engine that only males would recognize.

Tai was beyond amazed as Matt pulled out and got onto the road, "Dude, your ride is sweet! How did you get this sports car? I heard it had the horsepower of a monster truck!"

"Don't exaggerate it, bud," he laughed, focusing on driving, "but it is a powerful car. Got it recently as a gift, a fifth anniversary sort of thing for when my parents separated and split me and my little bro up."

"Wow, that sounds rough… I've had family problems as well, but nothing that major… yet." Tai trailed off.

Matt smirked darkly at his face, "Don't worry, my little brother goes to the Tenchu Academy now, and since he lives in the dorms, I see him every day. You might know him, his name is TK."

Tai boiled inside.

"I know him. Caught him in my apartment with his friends. I thought I'd have to pull him off her with pliers." He grinned with recollection, "I snuck up on them all and scared the shit out of them though."

"So you know he's going out with your sister? I was planning on easing you into that, but that'll cut fifteen minutes of explanation," he quipped, turning a corner, "so, let me ask you, what subjects did you choose? You have to have at least four."

Tai stroked his chin, "Um… I think I put down on that list I got in the mail… No, I remember; Physical Education, Psychology, English and Morals are what I picked."

"Diverse; I'm starting my courses today as well; Musical Theory, Morals, Home Ec., Science and Algebra."

Tai scowled at the road ahead, "Home Ec. and Algebra? That's the stuff I wanted to escape from!"

Mat chuckled all-knowingly to himself, "Actually, Home Ec. is mandatory. They had a problem at the Tenchu Academy a few years back where people lived off of ramen and had poor health; you have to take the cooking part to learn how to feed yourself; not just us dorm kids."

Tai cradled his head in his hands, "C'mon… first I travel across a large part of Japan, arrive three hours ago and now I have school, only to find out I have Home Ec.? Isn't that a chick class?"

"Yep, and there are several types you can go for; easy chicks, shy chicks, tomboy chicks, chicks with dicks and nerdy chicks."

"What was that third one?"

"Nerdy chicks." Matt lied. He could already tell this was going to be a fun year of taunting, "And, just to tell you now, you don't think that the Academy is a normal place, do you? It's filled with the same crap in normal schools, only multiplied. All the kids are the best and brightest in this half of Japan, but the Dean'll let anything go. Hell, host a boxing match, he wouldn't lift a finger. You'll be on the small physical side of the course, since most of the kids are sissies there; they'd be injured by a shuttlecock in badminton."

"That include you?" Tai held back his torrent of laughter behind his teeth.

But Matt was so cool about it, "Whose got their hand on the wheel in a powerful car on the freeway?"

He had a point; they were halfway there now, on the freeway and skimming past cars as they sped along within the legal limit of 80.

Tai felt the need to pass the time, so he went on, "So there aren't any gangs, insane chicks or tough guys that beat on people for their lunch money there?"

"The hell there isn't," Matt said almost longingly, as if picking up Tai separated him and a teenage Eden, "there are gangs, just not tough, strong guys. They're made of kids who use their brains and not brawn to prove their superiority. In terms of insane chicks, I want you to watch out for a Council Member I work with called Mimi; she's the queen of the school, and was only voted in because she's rich and looks like Aphrodite. Oh, and the lunch money thing doesn't happen. The one or two tough guys will threaten or outright blackmail you so you'll get them thousands of yen from your credit card."

Tai sordidly input, "I learned how to fight in Kyoto while I was there. It was a hellhole corner of it, but at least it made me toughen up. Let them try."

"You've got spunk," the blonde simplified, "but be careful; there are some dangerous characters there that enjoy bullying. Whatever happens, legal or not, is kept in the school to avoid a bad rep. To fight the crimes on campus, the Student Council doubles as a police agency sort of thing. They actually had a jail cell built in our building to teach the offenders a lesson."

_A jail cell? At a school for geniuses? What have I got myself into here? _He sighed, glancing back at the rear seat; his empty bag was naturally still there, "Right, I guess you're telling the truth about all that, but I'm the see and believe sort of guy. I'll just walk around campus at the lunch period and join a club or something." _Because that'll be normal, I hope._

Matt shifted his gaze briefly to Tai as he rode off of the freeway and back onto a busy rode on the very outskirts of the city, "Join the Council. It'll feed your ego if you're the superhero saving the day type of guy. If you want, I can put it to a vote to let you in, but you need a clean slate. No time in the school cell or anything stupid done off campus. It'd help if you get the favour of a student known to the Council; help a bullied kid or something, just be careful."

"How'd you get on then? You look like you're not the… strong type."

Matt understood and chuckled at the sentiment, "I'm in a band that performs in the Gym every now and again and at the Culture Festival. All the chicks dig vanilla."

"That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard."

"Why, vanilla too sweet?" Matt quipped again. While not as skilled as his mother, Tai knew he was a quick and edgy banter foe, "Oh, we're here."

Tai looked through his window and his mouth fell open in a comical 'O'. The building… no, BUILDINGS were freaking huge! And he could see shadows behind the architecturally divine school buildings that stretched over what must've been a half mile in radius and scale. The front entrance was like any other, with shoe lockers visible at the bottom of five stories, but with small gargoyle statuettes on either side of the entrance.

He couldn't even count them all before Matt's laugh brought him back to attention, "Huge, eh? I was like this a year ago when I was brought here. You see the five storied buildings? They don't fully separate year groups here, but they have them on mixed floors because of the great number of rooms inside. Some might not have even been opened yet; it's like a maze!"

No doubting that; the building seemed to come in at Tai as Matt drove into the car park entrance and secured the middle box of three empty spaces.

"Time to start, bud. To make things less awkward for you on your first day, I'll be your go-to guy. Come see me if you need anything. We might be in the same class for all I know, but still. And, be careful not to get lost or start any trouble."

Matt's warning finished, Tai opened the sleek silver door of the Viper, grasping and flinging his empty bag over his back and following the blonde without talking to the main entrance.

oOo

Now in his indoor shoes, Tai sauntered across to the help desk, a sagely old woman looking at him through thin glass, "Can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm the new student, Taichi Kamiya? I need to know where I go…" he said with some regret; asking for help on his first day was an embarrassing prospect.

"Ah, Mr. Kamiya! I have a few things to give you as a new student!" she excitedly said, reaching beneath her desk and sliding three papers to him, one folded thrice.

It was a map of the school site, man, was it big, a pamphlet of where to find the guidance councillor in case of emotional distress or otherwise and the third was a brief summary on paper of how you must be respectful, as a various grouping of students filled the grounds to capacity, including transfer students, rescued abuse kids with deep scars and emotionally overactive ones that will do anything to make a friend; _certain things _were frowned upon when it came to them, it seemed.

"Mr. Kamiya…" she mumbled, scanning down a sheet she held in a death lock of some sort, "Ah! You are on the fifth floor in class 2-C. You joined a year after they started, but… well, you should understand. A timetable will be given by Mr. Shioda, your homeroom teacher when you get there. Best hurry," she giggled, "introductions start soon, and…" the bell rang out, "your time to get there grows thin. Enjoy your stay."

_First I started at the shithole, then a day long bus journey, my sister's in a relationship before I am and now this!_ "**AW, COME ON, I NEED A BREAK~!**" Tai hollered as he shot like a bullet down the hallways, turning at every indication of a stairwell sign, almost leaving a dust trail in his wake.

"Poor kid," the help lady rambled to herself, "2-C's the worst possible class to join. I'm sure he'll crack soon enough." Although it sounded cruel, it was actually a generalization of the madness that was Tenchu Academy and 2-C.

oOo

Heaving and panting heavily, Tai now stood before the fifth floor's classroom 2-C. He was huddled over, hands on knees, trying to suck in all the oxygen he could.

The door inside was a common Japanese style roller / sliding white door, around five tinted windows lining down beside it to the rear door entrance with another small sign above it saying 2-C.

Why '2' was on the fifth floor, he had no idea. Hell, he was safe in the knowledge that even Steven Hawkins would be confused.

Okay, exaggerated to the maximum, but still…

Apparently his laboured breathing was heard inside as he heard the cluttering of chairs and wooden desks, the kids probably waiting for him to enter. There were footsteps toward the door at the front, most likely the teacher.

Tai tried to shovel in all the air he could, but he had lost too much. He was still supporting himself with his hands on his knees, his face like a kettle as the door slid aside, the teacher looking down at him as if he were alien.

Mr. Shioda was a rather short man, at least a head below Tai normally, with a white polo shirt and red tie against his dark, hemless pants, "Ah… Mr. Kamiya, so you're… here… are you okay?"

"**TAI, WHERE'VE YOU BEEN?**" he heard Matt's voice chuckling inside, "**WHAT WERE YOU DOING?**"

He really shouldn't, but he wanted to, so inbetween pants he replied, "Miss Universe. What do you think I was doing? I only got told a minute ago that I had to come all the way up here!"

"**YOU RAN UP FIVE SEPARATE STAIRCASES? YOU'RE INSANE!**"

"And you're blonde, we're not all perfect." He huffed deeply.

He must've made a good impression, as several giggles and laughs were heard, albeit concealed, within the classroom, Tai still hidden from their view.

God, where would the world be without banter?

Mr. Shioda should've sent him for punishment for such disruption, but by the way he just shrugged and smirked at the back and forth exchange, he must've been used to extreme personalities, "Well, Mr. Kamiya, if you'll actually come into the room, you can introduce yourself."

Shioda stepped aside, indicating for Tai to enter with his palm like a mocking butler. He may have been just a little angry, actually…

He heard whispers as he stuck a foot through the door, such as;

"Five to one he's ugly!"

"I bet a dollar he gets the cell in his first week!"

"More than likely he'll try to be the funny guy of the class…"

Walking in, it seemed his worst fear was realized; they immediately noticed the big hair against the smart uniform. He could tell because they were all looking at his head.

"He's cute!"

"Aw, not another pretty boy like Matt!"

"Don't think you'll win chicks with your face alone!"

Okay, maybe the hair didn't matter… for some reason. Although he never really enjoyed gazing at a mirror for hours on end, Tai did have at least a nice face to look at. His body was toned and muscular too beneath the sleeved uniform as well, but his height was deafly average. Good or bad? Who was to say?

The classroom itself was standard as all Japanese hell; the desks were well polished wood that sat before a wooden backed chair, and the view opposite the tinted hallway windows was exquisite, as it displayed the grandeur of the city and the Rainbow Bridge in the distance.

Matt was sat at the back, second from the rear window seat. The empty one, meaning Tai had the best located spot; score!

"Mr. Kamiya, if you'd please."

Tai gave a quick bow before going on to write his name as best he could on the chalk board, "My name's Taichi Kamiya, but I prefer Tai. I live in the Natsu district of Odaiba, and I hope we can all get along."

"Hold on," one girl pointed from her middle row seat, her caramel hair long and curled, and an obviously good attempt at makeup given. He also noticed that the girl's uniform consisted of rather short skirts. He'd enjoy it later on, "You're that kid who got lost!"

Tai was lost now, but in a metaphorical sense, "Yeah… what of it…?" he was too bedazzled by her gorgeous figure and face to work out where she was going with this.

"Didn't I see you mingling at the entrance? I thought you were dirt-poor rabble looking to cause trouble!" the girl flicked her caramel hair over her shoulder, "How did you get into Tenchu? Are you into drugs or something?"

That was sudden. He met the high life, defensive class snob in the first few minutes?

He didn't take crap from people he didn't know, especially when they claimed he horded drugs.

Tai couldn't help but bring this snob down, "No, I'm into surfing though, wanna go to the sea? I'm sure it'd be a smooth ride with your surfboard figure."

Reusing a joke? Yes. Did it work? Well, she looked a little pink as giggles were escaping around her desk.

"Don't mock me you yeti haired hooligan!" she rebuked, becoming so flushed Tai thought he could see lavender on her cheekbones, "Do you enjoy mocking girls?"

"It's a hobby."

"Is it because they always brought up how butt-hurt of an attitude you've got?" the posh girl brought up in the best 'commoner' tone she could.

A silver tongued and sharp witted (there's always hope) opponent for Tai! Man, was he gonna enjoy this later on. It was after she snapped her head away and everyone fell silent that he remembered.

THIS WAS HIS INTRODUCTION.

But, like Matt alluded to, the teachers (or was it the Dean? Or both?) didn't seem to care for this sort of stuff, Mr. Shioda pointing to his seat with his own laugh being held back, "The rear window seat please, Tai."

Obliged, Tai walked through the row to his seat, feeling a pair of burning caramel eyes on his back. As he sat down, he found Matt with his head in his hand, giggling to himself.

"Matt? You okay?"

"Y-yeah," he feigned wiping a tear, "that was comedy gold; Mimi never gets told off by boys, she's the queen of the school after all. Oh yeah, and that was Mimi you just embarrassed, you know, the crazy one I warned you about?"

Oh… like Tai's lack of luck would deter something like _this _happening. He had just pissed off a Council Member, the most popular and beloved girl in the school, practically an idol, and had perhaps just caused all the male hate of campus to come down upon him.

Fate was a cruel mistress…

"Ah, it'll be fine," he lied, "I'm sure she's not insane like you said; she's just a deluded chick with a phobia of poorer people. No biggy."

"Way biggy," his blonde friend contradicted, indicating with his finger, "this is just the morning. There is actually a schedule made last year by all of us here in 2-C! You especially wanna avoid her at 1:30, she goes bananas if you speak to her then."

Tai's jaw slackened, _A… schedule… you can't be serious; no one is THAT predictable!_

"I can see it on your face, you doubt it. Turn your phone on, it's like free time for the next minute or two."

Doing as he said, Matt initiated sending a message to Tai, the big haired new kid opening the mail with some doubt that this girl was crazy predictable-,

Oh.

He read through it carefully, taking a gander at Matt's little added footnotes.

'TAICHI KAMIYA

**Mimi Schedule**

**Morning Period**

**Docile yet not at once, like a sleeping jaguar. Do not aggravate, or she'll bite your head off**

**without mercy or regret later on in the Mimi Cycle. **

**Second Period**

**Starts displaying a colder and sharper attitude. Once she waved at a guy with a**

**knife in Home Ec. last year. Also known as the Ditzy Time.**

**Third Period**

**Bitch side begins to peel its way out, as the Student Council will have just**

**ended their daily meeting and she will now be at her strongest like a prowler looking**

**to cause havoc and misery. Known as the Apocalypse Time.**

**Fourth Period**

**Begins to wind down, but is still dangerous. Known as the Rest Time.**

**Post School**

**She becomes calm and gentle, kind even, before disappearing into the city.**

**What she does is anyone's guess, but it's probably to party,**

**since she's too rich and proud to work for her tuition fees.**

MATT ISHIDA

DATED 4TH APRIL AT 08:59 AM'

"You can't be serious," Tai gasped, flicking his phone closed and pocketing it, "who managed to tail her long enough to make this?"

Matt pointed to a kid in the second row, his hair grey and spiky and his blazer wrapped around his waist, "Kai's been her enemy like you just were since middle school. Believe me, she's done too much crazy stuff to go unnoticed."

"Like what?" he asked, deeply intrigued, a sense of haste about him, since the bell was about to ring again.

"Well, last year alone, she exposed two blackmailed secret couples in the year group even though they paid her part of their paychecks from part time jobs to keep quiet, and she has no problem manipulating guys into doing what she wants, like this huge brawl last year. She hasn't had a single boyfriend because of that, no matter how she looks. She's feared and hated by the girls and revered by most guys because of her looks and the schedule."

"Does she know about the schedule?"

Matt smirked and released a single note of his laugh, "Can't have people avoiding you at key times of the day without asking questions. She still follows it, though, because it ensures she has her own little empire in the school through the day. She's like Eris."

"Eris?" Tai blinked.

"God of chaos? Geez… oh, and if you decide to aim for the Council now, you've probably got one less vote because of what you just pulled. She just listens in to the budget parts of the meeting, but she's still a member."

Before Tai could breathe another syllable, the bell rang out loud through all five stories of the building and an equally as large building across the way, parallel to this one; it was the Junior Level School, the first tier or branch that led onto this one. That's where Kari and her friend go; they were around the age group, 12 to 14.

Tai rose from his desk amidst the loud rustling and scrapings of the chairs and desks, opening the schedule Mr. Shioda had handed him before he sat down.

He read with some fright; 'HOME EC.'.

Right off the bat. Tai snapped his fingers and stuffed the time table in his pocket, _Gonna learn how to cook, huh? Matt said that there were all sorts of chicks, and none of them look that bad in this school… actually, they all look thin and healthy! Lucky rich bastards…_

Looking up, he noticed Matt had vanished out of sight, as had everyone else, even the homeroom teacher, as they all knew where the Home Ec. room was.

Scuttling along to the rear door, Tai found the entire hallway empty. Great, he thought, his was the only class to follow on this floor and they vanished!

Against his better judgement, Tai picked the map out of his filling up back pack, unfolding it and scanning over the floor plans of this building. He found the Home Ec. thanks to colour coded instructions; on the third floor to the far right.

Folding it carefully up like a lifeline, Tai began pacing back to the stair case he had come up on, running through the hall at a blinding pace.

Suddenly, he found his face on the floor, a tug stopping his right foot from moving as he ran past a turn off in the hallway toward the stairs. Looking up in anger for who had tripped him, Tai found Mimi stood there, looking rather displeased.

"Oh, surfboard girl…" he mumbled, wiping his lip and hoisting himself up to look down at her.

Her arms were knotted so tightly they might be untangle-able for years to come, "Mess with me, and you'll regret it. I hate all boys who act like they're so freaking perfect and funny."

Tai shot back, "Hey, I'm not here to impress you, crazy girl. You said I horded drugs for no reason, so me embarrassing you was your fault."

"I'm a member of the Student Council! I can have you brought up for bullying if I wanted to! I'm sure one of these stupid little boys that make up this school would love to injure themselves and make sure you suffer for it."

Tai raised his brows, _This girl is crazy, just like Matt said…, _"Whatever, I'm outta here."

Turning to walk to the stair case, Tai felt a tight pull on his wrist, "I'm not done talking. I won't be ignored."

"Well, you're gonna be unless you drop the bitchy attitude. I've been in your class only three minutes and your already acting out?" he wrenched his wrist from her grasp, "Did mom and dad know you were insane when you were a kid?"

Much to his shock, she slapped him for all she was worth, barging his arm out of her way as she stomped around the corner and down the stairs to Home Ec.

He was sure he heard a sniffle as she went, "What the hell did I say? She accuses me of drug hording randomly and she runs off crying?"

"It's your first day, so you outta know." A voice called out from behind him. Looking back, Kai was stood there, "I may not like her, but I always thought it was odd she could have violent mood swings. Since she's gunning for you as well now, I'll let you in on a secret I found yesterday."

Tai looked incredulous, "What in the-? I've been here all of four minutes now and- is this school really worth all this melodrama?"

Kai sternly forced upon him with his sharp voice, "You've seen the news right? About the Black Swan?" Tai still looked off-put, but nodded, "Well, Mimi is one of the kids that lives there. Since she's about to be tossed out on the street, she's a little… touchy. Remember that before you piss her off next time; she's extra insane, and even that schedule I made might not be right anymore."

"She tripped me up, can't be too bad. Also, why are you still here?"

"Bathroom."

Tai began walking to the stairs again with Kai, looking at him grazingly as he went, "So… do you know why crazy girl is in the home, or did you not dig that deep? She hates all guys apparently and she tried to accuse me of dealing drugs so that I could get in. I think she also has a problem with how poor I am compared to her."

Kai turned, the pair heading down the two fleights of steps, "No… but watch out, she will show no mercy to either boys or girls. Don't give her the means to seriously cripple you on the first day. She's the Queen of Calamity in Tenchu Academy for a reason."

* * *

Second quickie of this high school drama.

Did I lay it on too thick at the end there? Probably.


	3. Chapter 3

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**GETTING STARTED**

* * *

Tai and Kai planted their feet onto the final step of the staircase, the big haired one looking from side to side for the Home Ec. room, but realized Kai would go there as he walked away, his hands pocketed.

"New kid, aren't you coming? Home Ec. is actually the best part of my school day."

_You're kidding, right? All the guys in middle school only laughed in it when a girl held a banana, _he thought sharply, following down the winding hallway and finally coming to the end, a small window pane facing him. Beside it was another sliding door, and a sign above it tagged 'HOME ECONOMICS'.

As the door slid open, a girl Tai remembered from class shot past him, stopping before Kai, a small knife in her hands, "Kai! Your my assigned partner, and I can't make a cake if you don't help!"

She was short to the boys, and had long brown hair that covered her eyes over like blinds.

"What's with the knife then?" Kai calmly inquired, edging his foot back a little.

"I need a topping for when its baked, and I thought your nose would make a good topping! If you care at all for living, GET YOUR APRON **NNNOOOOOW!**" she roared, retreating back into the Home Ec. room.

"Who was the crazy chick?" Tai asked; he thought she was serious for a moment.

"Her name's Harumi. Don't let her personality fool you, she's a great old crybaby." Kai laughed.

"**I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!**" he didn't,"**NOW GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE!**" her shrilly and loud voice chilled the air outside, Tai pretending to shiver.

Kai walked in calmly, passing Mr. Shioda as he went in, grasping an apron from the hooks beside the entrance, "Coming dear."

"Ah, Taichi," his new teacher called out, Tai noticing a small pile of bags neatly stacked next to him, adding his to the top, "you need a partner… oh, that's fantastic! We've had an odd number for a while, she'll need her own partner." He looked over at the three long stations, complete with ovens and such, scanning until, "Sora! With Taichi here, you can have your own partner!"

This 'Sora' looked back; she was an average heighted girl in the regulation blazer and skirt topped with the apron, with fiery, auburn hair like fire. For some reason, she had the look of a deer in the headlights, and she stiffly walked across to Tai and Mr. Shioda at the door.

"H-hello…" she managed, her eyes bulging as if from fright. With a sudden, unnecessary bow, she added, "I hope we can get along…"

_A shy babe! I love this school already, forget the two insane chicks, I want to see more like this!_

Tai caught himself staring, and twitched as a little heat entered his cheeks, "Erm… well, you seem nice, so I'll sure we'll be just fine." He reached for one of the spare aprons on the hooks, tying it around his waist, "Where do we work, Mr. Shioda?"

The teacher pointed across to the corner work station of the furthest long station. Looking down at it as he got there, Tai found it had its own grill, oven and sink all compressed into one small but viable area. It was an impressive bit of ingenuity.

"So, what're we making, Sora?" he asked rhetorically; insane girl Harumi had made it perfectly clear it was a cake, "Hm? Hey, I don't bite."

He had seen a little tremor in her left arm, but the second he caught it, it was gone.

"I-it's nothing. I get the shivers all the time. We're making a cake, and-,"

For some reason or another, Tai had blanked out what she was saying, looking at her arm when she bent over and used it to heat the oven up; there was a tremble. In addition, he felt a shivering sensation, following its source to find the two girls Sora was with when he walked in; a cheerleader like blonde and a princess type black head. They had been shooting filthy looks over at the pair ever since Sora was given to Tai.

"-And that's all we do." Sora ended, her voice bleeding back in through his ears. Panicked she might notice he hadn't paid attention, he looked at the heat gauge of 46 degrees and nodded.

"That'll heat up the oven quick enough." He instantly regretted the small talk, as he now looked like a fool in the bustling room, "So, before we go on to," he glanced at the instructions etched in chalk on the board, "crack the eggs and whisk them, can I ask you about yourself? I wanna learn as much as I can about the others as I can."

Sora hesitated, but obliged while picking out a bowl and cracking eggs into it, "Well… I guess that I would say I… um… I like to watch soccer from time to time, and I like hanging around with my friends…" she mumbled.

"Oh? Are those two you were with a minute ago your friends?"

"… No… I just got put with them because of the class numbers. Since you're my new permanent Home Ec. partner, I don't think they'll talk to me again anyway. In my last group I just did the work while they talked about boys and stuff."

"I'll pull my own weight, so don't worry about it," he reassured, grabbing the last egg and cracking it cleanly on the edge of the bowl, letting the yolk out into the mixture with a scaled amount of flour, "Um… this might sound random, but… wanna be friends?"

Sora looked at him in surprise, a little pinker.

"W-well, you see… I just want to make as many friends as I can quickly so… do you want to be friends?" he could feel the tremble in his tone as it came out, rubbing his neck with his free hand.

"You want to be friends with me…?" she asked him as if she had been ostracized and alienated, her tone shaky, "Why would you? I mean, I'm not really good at friend stuff! Really! The only thing I do well is study!"

"Are you… okay?" Tai passively input, whisking the eggs, "You're talking like you have an illness or something. You seem nice enough, so why wouldn't I be your friend?"

Sora gasped, covering her mouth to stop herself from getting any louder. Looking side to side, she noticed that no one had heard her with the automated whisks and running around.

She unclasped her mouth, sighing in relief as Tai hadn't been looking, focusing on manual whisking at an amazing rate, "Um… if you're sure… usually I drag people down…"

"Hm? What was that last part?" Tai looked back at her.

"Nothing!"

As the newly formed duo went on at a steady, productive rate with their cake making, the two girls looked across again with filthy distain in their eyes.

The blonde, Nami, scowled with a sopping mess at the end of her tenuously held whisk, "Aw, man… Shioda just had to switch, didn't he! My manicure is too good to be ruined by cake batter!" she complained, "That's what the nerd was here for!"

The black haired girl rolled her eyes at Sora and Tai as they worked, "Look at them… how come the ugly nerd gets to go with a guy like that? I thought she'd have learned to stay away from the guys after the whole Kenta thing."

"Man," Nami giggled, "do you remember the look on her face when we sprang it on her? She was so embarrassed it was hilarious! She still can't go near the Gym!"

"Maybe we should give her another warning."

A dark, facetious look came over the pair, "What do you say? Wanna catch Mimi third period? She'll jump at the chance to ruin her again."

oOo

Mimi herself was paired up with Matt, the duo working rather sluggishly and silently, working without conversing.

Maybe this was the most peaceful time of the 'Mimi Schedule'. Kai might've called it right after all.

"So, Matt," she suddenly spoke, the blonde not turning back to her, but shifting his blue eyes, "how do you like the car? That Viper really packs a punch on the road, huh?"

The blonde did not at all look pleased, "Mom and Dad thought I'd suffered a lot because I was separated from TK." He gave her a look that would stun a grizzly, "Why do you care? The only reason you get into conversation is to get info to turn on somebody, so out with it."

"Snappy," she retorted, her voice lowering, "well, you see… there's this little problem. I heard on the news that Black Swan would be throwing me out on the street because of money trouble. I just realized that a certain silver Viper might cover the expense and keep me from losing a second home, but…"

_Oh lord, that glint in her eye… she's thought up something evil again, _"What of it? I don't plan on selling my car; it's the first gift my mom and dad got me together since the divorce, so what is your point?"

"Well… a Council Member is important to Tenchu, since they keep it as safe as they can. What would the Dean think if he found out you were driving that car underage?"

"Underage? What the hell are you talking about?" Matt spat low so that only Mimi could hear.

Mimi smirked, "Well, do you remember last week when you lost your wallet, and it was turned back in with everything inside? Well, I just happened to find it, but before turning it in…"

Matt felt a foul chill fill the void between them, "What the hell have you done?"

"I just so… 'happened', to have a fake driving licence in your name, and made the old switch-a-roo. You see, it was insurance that you would do what I said at least once for your real licence to be given back, or the cops could hear about it."

Matt resisted the urge to grab the pastry knife beside him and carve her like a turkey, "You'd give me licence back… if I gave you my car to sell? What kind of god damn sense does that make?"

Mimi smiled wickedly, "Think for once, blondie. Don't you think that me playing my card now would mean I need something done? The Black Swan is one of three choices you have."

"You want me to do something for my licence back?" he asked, a little calmer that she wouldn't rat him out… yet. She was pure evil and hated men, so she had to have something up her sleeve.

"I want you to keep tabs on Tai for me. He made the mistake of pissing me off, so he needs to learn his place, like all other men, including you." She venomously whispered, coming up to his face, "I've got you by the balls. Ignore me and I'll report you're licence. You have three roads from this minute, but which'll it be?"

Matt felt like spitting on her. She was right.

His car was precious as not only awesome, but as a sentimental gift from his rifted parents together.

He had to make one choice, like it or not.

He'd only just met the guy, after all.

oOo

Twenty minutes into cooking, Tai watched diligently, sitting crouched before the oven, watching as the cake mix rose in a spherical pan.

Home Ec. wasn't going that bad. Sora was a nice enough and helpful girl between the stammers and the nervous twitches when he called her. But he couldn't get that one twitch out of her mind; her left arm winced, almost reeling when she thought he couldn't see.

Right now, she stood over him, watching the oven also with a solemn look on her face…

"KENTA!" one of the girls called out n another work station.

Sora felt her shoulders and face tighten with panic at the name, looking slowly across to find Kenta Inuzuka leant on a station, chatting with his friends and leaving work to his partner, _Not him… thank goodness… calm down girl, he's in a different class! Plus I doubt he'd want to see me again…_

"-ora," she heard, looking down at Tai's neck before he looked over his shoulder, "I think it's been twenty minutes already. We should take it out before it burns."

"R-right." Putting on a pair of oven mitts, Tai opened the door and allowed her to pull it out and place it atop the work station, "Next is some icing… I think you have to ask to borrow some. I'll go and do it, I know who to ask."

Walking off around the work station, she headed straight down to two blonde girls, the pair giggling as she looked for the right words.

One, Iris, noticed her and loosened her smile, "Oh, um… Sora… what do you want?"

"Me and Tai need icing for our cake. Do you have any spare?"

Iris reached into the drawer before her, a small nozzle at the end of a vigorously rolled paper bag being handed to Sora. It barely had any left in it.

"Hey, Sora… I just want to say, I'm glad you're talking again."

Sora looked at her feet, "T-thanks…" she mustered before spinning on her heel and walking away.

The other blonde with a butterfly pin in her hair, Mai, looked at her friend sadly, "She has had trouble coming back from the Kenta thing last year…"

"I'm not surprised," Iris scoffed, "the guy was scum, and he sold her out for a few yen and a cheap thrill. All the bitches in the class snigger when she walks by."

Mai still looked despondently at her friend, "Still… maybe she's finally recovering. She hasn't made any friends since then, so I think she might be dealing with it on her own."

Back at the Tai station, Sora handed over the icing squeezer, Tai frowning and holding it up for inspection, "Wow… wonder if there'll be enough for me to eat after."

Sora looked deposed at his inquiry, "Others need to use that after!"

"I know, I know, I was just kidding, Sora." He held the squeezer over the cake top, but then thought better of it, "Actually, we'll never cover this thing with this much… how about we make it a big bun, kind like," he squirted a few kanji, forming a small note, "that!"

Looking over his broad shoulder, Sora struggled not to laugh.

'IMPERIAL OVERLORD TAICHI KAMIYA

HEREBY CLAIMS THIS SUPPLE BUN IN PLACE OF

AI SAYAMA'S OWN BUNS'.

"T-that's just-," Sora halted, her breath abated as she withheld her laugh in her mouth with her hands cupped around it, "Your taking the blame for it."

Tai looked back smugly, "I did way worse stuff for a cheap laugh in Kyoto High School, believe me. Hey," he called out, his great personal magnetism attracting everyone, even Mr. Shioda's, undivided attention, "Who wants to take a photo of me and my crass cake?"

Personally, he had no idea what crass meant. He just knew it was on the same lines as crude, and from their similar to rambunctious…

Twas truly an endless cycle of words he used rarely as a sentence enhancer and had not even the slightest idea about.

Kai came over and looked, his lungs nearly bursting and tears brimmed at his eyes as he read off the cake, "Guys, get a camera before the girls ruin it!" he gasped inbetween his chuckling.

"Ruin what?" Iris ran over and scanned the cake, her blonde hair going against the crimson flush of her face, "That's… that is just-!" she hit Tai in the arm. Too bad he was tough enough to handle a girl punch, "You pervert!"

As she put her palm out to wipe it off, Kai slipped in behind her and pulled her away in a full nelson hold, "Someone- picture it now!"

"You pervs! Kai, get off of me!" Iris shrieked, writhing in the taller boy's hold.

"Stop struggling or I hold you back by your soft buns!"

Realizing the euphemism, Iris stomped on his foot, but only yielded a little yelp, not getting freed.

"That's it, I warn you!" Kai howled, releasing her arms and grabbing her breasts as promised, lifting her up as a plus. When the elbows started firing back, skimming his face.

The pleading began when his balance became unstable, and he stumbled back, Iris's skirt flicking up dangerously every second, "K-Kai, seriously, let go! I'll leave the stupid cake alone!"

Harumi slipped in like a superhero behind Kai, pinching his ear and tugging on it, the silver haired youth releasing his hold on Iris and getting pulled back by his Home Ec. partner toward the corner, Iris joining, hitting him with kicks and punches, his laugh like the one you'd get from the Pit of Despair as the pissed off girls offloaded with hits.

"**Lousy, no good pervert! Are you scared, well don't be; in a second you'll be dead!**" Harumi was mad, like, insane mad as she and Iris went on, hitting him on the ground while others watched happily.

"Hey, guys!" They heard Kai's voice in the scuffle, "Either take a picture of the cake or help me! Mountains and Molehills are attacking!"

"**What'd you say?**" her now demonically deep voice of hatred hissed.

"Don't worry, Harumi! I'm sure guy's love the Molehills idea! You double as a cutting board, after all!"

Well, that was his death warrant effectively signed, laughs all round, even the teacher was lax about it and chuckled.

"Is class here always awesome?" Tai asked Sora, pointing at the slaughter in the corner.

Sora giggled a little, "Yeah… it's really funny when Kai and Harumi are in Morals as well."

_Great, I have that second, _he sighed, a small flash happening over his shoulder, the pair turning back to find Mai holding her phone up to the cake, a small peach colour on her cheeks.

"Although Iris is against the idea of crude men, this is pretty funny," she displayed the photo of the cake; a perfect shot, almost a digital masterpiece, "so I'll let it slide."

Sora was curious, "Is Iris a feminist? I always did think she was a little awkward around boys."

Mai laughed to herself, putting her phone away, "Nah, it's just guys who would touch her boobs randomly if given the chance; perverts to the core, basically. The only live example is Kai, and he's a notorious perv when he's having fun with it."

Tai shifted his glance over to the slaughter still occurring in the corner like a soap opera scene, "What gave it away was when he threatened to do it, and then actually went through with it."

Matt walked up and patted him on the shoulder, "He's a man amongst men."

"I will try to be more like him," Tai vowed in a proud voice, "His Manliness need help; Matt, wanna help?"

"Glad too." The blonde agreed, the two stepping forward toward the scene.

Sora was beyond lost, "What just happened?"

"Well, Tai vowed to become Kai Jr., Matt apparently thinks he'll do it as well and guys are dumbasses," Mai simplified, walking around to Sora, "Wanna have the cake? We don't have popcorn for watching the next part."

"Of what?"

Using a knife inside the drawer to cut the cake and retrieve two slices, Mai passed one to Sora and looked on, "The part where Iris breaks the new kid like a twig. She is P-I-SSED. Harumi as well. Just watch."

Iris kicked the unmoving Kai in the leg, "Trash! Pervert jerk! Uncouth monkey!" as her kicks went deeper with every strained insult, Kai smiled on the ground at his work. Bruises abound, but worth it, "This is why all guys are pigs!"

Harumi hissed with every kick as well, "**Stupid. Kai! Why. Don't. You. Ever. Learn?**"

The brave pair of Matt and Tai stepped up behind the two, wrapping the arms around their slender waists and pulling them away from Kai's body, struggling with the girls writhing.

"Kai, quit the act!" one bespectacled girl worriedly begged, sighing with relief as Kai kipped up to his feet, brushing off the shoe dust as if no harm had been done.

The silver haired, ballsy boy walked over to Iris and Harumi, still held by his compatriots in manliness, and stared at their red faces, their free arms crossed over their chests. Kai walked over to Harumi and looked her dead in the eyes.

She couldn't handle the vacant stare up close, and pulled her eyes away, cheeks as red as a tomato.

Bad move.

Kai couldn't help it, and like a nervous twitch, grabbed her breast and squeezed it like a horn, her embarrassment quickly converting to anger as she provided a sharp elbow to Matt's ribs, using her freedom to her fullest advantage and chasing Kai out of the room, his laughter and her death threats fading down the hallway as everyone returned to their cakes.

Tai released Iris, the girl glaring up at him viciously and walking away, her arms still over her chest, back to Mai's company.

Tai helped Matt back up, soothing him with a joke, "They're like a married couple."

Matt rubbed his ribs, but quickly recovered, "We've all bet on when they become a couple. I've got three weeks left on my bet."

"If he uses her as a horn, I think he'll be joining her in the hospital. She's the type to hit a guy when he's casted up!"

Matt laughed with a pain still at his rib, "I've been with the pair since Kai moved in during early middle school; believe me, they've always been like that. You should've been there during our class's event, 'World War 3'."

"What happened there?"

"Kai noticed how the girls had started getting great chests and Harumi… well, let's just say he said cutting board one too many times and wound up with a broken nose and well and truly kicked in balls."

Tai, like all men, knew that excruciating feeling, like needles stretching and stabbing through the lower extremities, sapping one's strength, "Ouch."

Matt winced at the thought himself, even though he had laughed when it happened, "She played soccer with me and him to rub it in like salt as well. But they're practically inseparable. I've seen them in the city from time to time, looking too chummy to be the pair you just saw. A lot closer, if you ask me."

Tai smiled, looking back at his cake; while he was gone, it seems some girl had wiped it, _This Tenchu Academy might not be so bad. The girls are girls and the crazies are separate. It might be jinxing it by thinking this so early on but; this might be a nice place to be. Wish I knew who paid for me to come here so I could kiss them… unless it's a dude, then that'd be weird._

"Kids!" Mr. Shioda called out from the board up front, garnering attention, "Second period starts in ten minutes, so stuff your faces and clean up!"

"Yes sir!"

Oh yes, Tai liked this teacher for sure! He didn't care about the whole Kai thing and laughed with everyone else!

How bad you'd have to be too get sent to this 'cell' the Academy supposedly had was beyond him, if all of the staff were as lax as this.

oOo

Tai's face fully stuffed, Sora only taking one tiny sliver for herself before he did so, he shoved the final instrument, a knife, into the drawer and awaited the bell for the second period.

Apparently, since Kai and Harumi were in his choice class, he would ideally want to sit beside the former, seriously, the chick was an energetic nutjob!

He was sure he could still hear the faint sound of cussing out in the court yard by Harumi, looking for Kai still.

One hour down, four more to go on his first day.

Looking back, he wanted to ask Sora where the room was since she alluded to having it also, but she was gone, nowhere to be seen in the crowd as the bell rang out and they clamoured for the sliding door.

"Sora?"

* * *

**A/N: **Well, Mimi seems to be the epitome of evil in this, doesn't she?

Using trump cards and secrets for her own gain, in addition to her vague involvement with something when 2-C was still 1-C.


	4. Chapter 4

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**MORALITY**

* * *

"Sora?" Tai repeated to himself again, almost wishing she'd still be there like a genie. She was easy to talk to, and his second friend in Tenchu after Matt. Kai was an okay guy, but if he pisses off insane girls every day, he'd rather keep his distance for now, "Guess she already went…"

Noticing the bell had rung at last, Tai quickly jogged over to the door, hanging up his apron and grabbing his bag from the pile of one or two left.

If he hurried up, the map would not have to be used to staggeringly bad effect again.

"Hey, Tai! Wait up!" he heard Mai's soft voice come closer, Iris looking tenuous beside her, as if it was dangerous to be within fifty feet of the new kid, "You have Morals, right? Nearly everyone does, so, want to go there together?"

Tai nodded slowly, "Yeah… so, tell me," he began, Mai perking up, "will Kai and Harumi really be back?"

"Like the plague," she chuckled, "those two are like oil and water in Morals; they don't mix. You'll see."

The trio, after Mai and Iris picked up their shoulder hung bags, bordering on sports bags, began walking down the corridor, Tai pulling up the rear.

Iris looked back at him, cheeks the colour of peaches, probably for restraining her, "So… um… how do you like the Academy so far?"

"Well, in the last hour alone, I've practically got a death threat from Mimi, Harumi probably thinks I'm Kai's sexual deviant sidekick in crime, I probably look like a pervert to the girl because of the cake and the whole Kai thing back in there was funny." Tai relayed like a list, "I also like the fact that the teacher doesn't seem to give a crap about stopping stuff, which is good. By the way Matt described it on the drive here, I thought it'd be a prison with tons of rules, since they apparently have a cell. I can tell now he was messing with me."

"Well… that's a… um," Mai struggled to find the words as the three began heading up the stairs to the fourth floor, "full hour, if anything."

"He wasn't messing with you," Iris cut across sharply, "there are some strict rules, but some things are inconsequential and get overlooked. That's why there are bullying problems, scandals and such here, and that's why the Council has the authority to put an offender into the cell in their small building like it was a police station."

"Wow… but, what would you have to do to break the rules? Something extreme?" Tai asked, deeply interested in the workings of his new schooling site.

"Oh boy, yes. Most things are kept under wraps to preserve the school and Dean's reputation. This school is a teen paradise as long as you don't do one of three things; one, no mass vandalism of the site. Two, no sexual activity caught on campus grounds goes unpunished. And three, you can't be absent from three days of school without a valid reason, or else you get put in the cell for three days with nothing but homework you missed to be done."

Mai looked a little sourly at Iris, "Aren't you missing out the point? Those sound less threatening than you think, but the rules get iron-clad from there. For example, multiple cases of reported bullying or blackmail for money on the grounds will result in a one way trip to the Dean. He's never been seen by anyone in our year, including Mimi, but on the rare occasion someone is sent to his office, they're rumoured to come out looking like they've been mentally crushed, and quickly reform themselves."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Tai replied as they came before the Morality room before realizing, "at least now I know where to draw the line, so thanks."

"You're welcome," Mai quickly smiled, flashing a look at Iris, making her wince, "nothing to add, Iris?"

"N-no," she tersely replied, turning her head away with a blushed huff, "let's go in."

Tai took it upon himself to grasp the sliding door, pushing it aside and allowing the three inside, most of his classmates and a few additions inside, still rummaging through their desks and rattling seats into place against the tiled floor.

"TAI, OVER HERE!" Matt called out, indicating the back row seat he had reserved for the new boy beside him and Kai, who had a light purple on his cheeks from rapid slapping.

Harumi herself sat three rows in front, pouting her seat and holding her hands close to her chest.

As Iris began edging toward her seat, Mai pulled her over to a pair of free seats in the second row, nudging her in the side after they sat down, "Hey," she whispered, "for someone interested in the new kid, you really need to do better than that."

Iris flinched at the devilish smile, looking down at her desk to avoid the gaze, steam practically jetting from her ears in embarrassment.

Tai looked closer at Kai's face, seeing more now than the purple slaps, as faint colours made his face look like a colour pallet of bruises, "Damn~! They really went to town on your ass, didn't they? Are you gonna be alright? Shouldn't you go see the nurse?"

Matt cut in with a light guffaw in his throat, "Don't worry, he's done lessons last year with worse. The man lives life to the fullest and has the brains of a chimp when he needs escape plans." He looked longingly up at the ceiling, "The worst was last year when he snuck into the girls spa area and Harumi caught him looking disappointedly at her and-,"

"I don't need reminding," Kai grumbled, placing his chin in his hand for a rest, "I told you that story, and I felt like death afterward. The end."

"You're missing out the part where you said you felt like she'd kicked you so hard they'd retracted into your spline," he chuckled, noticing the pained expression he made, "Harumi likes hitting you there, doesn't she? It's like she's your wife already!"

Tai knew what he was doing and stayed quiet, _Wonder how much he'll win in the bet if they do get together in the next three weeks…_

Of course, Kai being Kai, the callous retort went along the lines of, "Me and that oversized ironing board? Are you serious? She's out of her mind!"

Feeling a sudden sting at his forehead, Kai looked down at a pencil rolling on his desk, a few kanji carved in small on two of the six sides;

IRON BOARD?

YOU ARE SO DEAD.

He pretty much guessed who that was from, and looked toward the front, holding back his fear; after the great chase, he didn't think he could outrun her for as long as last time.

The door at the front slid open, all of the students rising from their seats as a beautiful young woman walked in, wearing a beige skirt, a black, v-cut top and small high heels, a bunch of papers flicking as she hastily walked to the front desk along with her short hair style flapping around.

"Sorry I'm late," she began, a light pant mixed in with her soft toned voice, "you may be seated."

Everyone did so, scraping their chairs back into comfortable positions.

"Well, I have heard that we have a new student joining us, if he may rise for my convenience."

Tai stood back up, mumbling and cussing under his breath at losing the perfect seat positioning.

"So you are Mr. Kamiya. Welcome, I am Ms. Oomori, the Morals teacher here in Tenchu Academy. Just so you know, for chosen subjects you may have different teachers than your homeroom one. Now, if you'll be seated, I will begin and help you out if necessary after we have started."

Planting his rear back in his seat and adjusting it for the third time, the Kamiya grumbled, "Man… only second period and I have to move around this much? At least Mimi isn't here with the second stage of her schedule." Feeling dread within him, he scanned the room for confirmation; luckily for him, Mimi took double Gym class due to a schedule conflict. She had it twice, separate periods, every day.

_If only the poor bastard knew, _Matt thought sadly, "Don't worry, fireworks will erupt around forty minutes in. This is Harumi's best subject, and Kai loves proving her wrong."

"Really?" Tai looked at Kai with a smile, but in the corner of his eye, in the third row, he spotted a familiar looking girl; Sora, _Oh, that's where she ran off too._

oOo

Thirty minutes later, after the class was set on the task of writing a page full of their own thoughts regarding the reasoning behind emancipation of women over time and how it affected male oriented society, Ms. Oomori craned over Tai's shoulder, offering support whenever he should need it. The scratching of pencil on paper began to sound like nails on a chalk board, the same affect that water gradually feeling heavier and more painful had in the Cinder Block effect.

Tai was doing okay for a first time in Morals student, clearly inferior to kids that had done it for a full year before him. All of the kids in the school he went to were dumbass trash, not even worth teaching it too, making him suffer as a result.

But never mind that… even if it was a school, he had only been a member for an hour and a half, and he had made at least five new friends, made an awesome cake that he scarfed down and was enjoying Morals more than he thought he would.

"Okay class!" Oomori sudden clapped her hands, walking back to the front podium, "Time for argument! I want you to give me a girl's name and a boy's name for todays, since it coincides with our lesson today about gender equality. The girl is for, and the boy will be against!"

Several hands shot up high into the air like rockets, Kenta from Home Ec. getting selected first, "I vote that Kai Tooru do it for the boys, Ms. Oomori!"

Showing her mischievous side, Iris stretched her arm up, getting selected next, "I vote that Harumi Itoh do it for the girls, Ms. Oomori! That perv needs to learn respect for women by force!"

Kai scoffed, an evil and contemplating smirk on his face, "Women take everything by force, don't they?"

All of the boys fell into hysteric laughter, but Iris stood up at her desk, affronted, "Ms.! This is exactly what I'm talking about! He's worse than last year; he thinks it's funny!"

Oomori seemed to agree, a foul, foreboding look silencing them all, the girls looking proud of their victory, "Will Kai and Harumi please stand? Harumi will start the argument in her favour as punishment for that innuendo!"

"Curses!" Kai wisped under his breath, he and Harumi standing up at their desks, looking forward and ignoring everybody looking at them; they had great magnetism to their respective genders, Tai thought while awaiting the start.

Harumi coughed and cleared her throat, "Men are dull, insolent pigs that would be incapable of running anything anywhere but the ground; look at the facts. Women make up the majority of the accounting departments of the world because they are mentally superior. Men are monkeys that are good only for hard labour as servants to women. If it wasn't for women, men wouldn't exist at all, as they wouldn't have been born."

A fair point, if over exaggerated at the end.

Kai, mocking Harumi, did the vocal exercises a singer would do quickly with 'mimimimi~' escaping his lips, "All women are just the almighty one's gift to man. Women are great at cooking, cleaning and thrashing about in bed. But he gave them one fatal flaw; like Harumi, they never _shut up_. Oh, and in response to your little birth point about men, you do recall that you need our Christmas sacks to give you gifts before that happens, right? Learn some human biology, you silly ape."

"**SEXIST PIG!**" almost all of the girls roared, throwing a variety of stationary as artillery at him. He had overstretched his bounds, as even Ms. Oomori looked sour at his argument. Almost every girl had a violent pink colour creep into their face as they calmed down, sitting back at their desks.

Pulling himself out from under the pencils and such thrown at him, Kai kipped up, standing behind his desk as if nothing happened again.

Tai leant over toward Matt, whispering so lowly he might as well have mouthed it, "Well, that went badly. He just pissed off every girl in the class, refuted equality and insulted every female in the world. Is this only his morning, maybe he needs a schedule too."

Matt whispered back, "He's been like that for a while; he had trouble making friends once, so he took joking to the extreme. He got punished a lot, but it worked… on one side of the sex barrier, at least. You should've seen him a few months ago when he went to look in on a Council meeting."

…

**THREE MONTHS AGO**

"_Alright, now, there's been an uptake in how many depression cases the school nurses are seeing, so we need to think up a way to either light up the mood or solve bullying," Matt told the council, Kai waiting for his friend._

"_Isn't the way to solve the depression simple?" Kai input suddenly, "I know how to solve the male side of it, at least."_

_Matt sighed, not liking it one bit, "Go on…"_

"_**MICRO-SKIRTS~!**__" his roar was long and loud, heard all the way in the tennis courts, sending shivers down the female players spines._

…

Tai laughed, "You've said 'you should have been there' a few times. I'm guessing he's a fun guy to be around."

"Yeah, and he's a substitute bass player for my band if we ever need it. He's got good grades, but I think his sexist attitude clung like a tree in the ground."

"Harumi is the winner, since she wasn't sexist about it." Oomori spited Kai, the female girl sitting down victoriously, "Also, where would England be without Queen Elizabeth? Where would the medicinal arts be without Florence Nightingale? Where would Egypt have gone if not for Cleopatra? You must respect women, young Kai. Men are bumbling fools as history has shown, such as General Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn."

"Not sexist my rear!" Kai rebuked, "She challenged all men by calling them monkeys that wouldn't exist without women! The fact you agree shows that she must be a teacher's pet with a stick up her tiny rear- oh crap."

Before he realized it, Harumi had leapt over the desks, using them as platforms and running toward Kai, the chase restarting as they shot out of the room.

"How many times a day does that happen?" Tai asked, a comedic look of pity on his face.

The blonde beside him shrugged, "Usually twice, sometimes three times a day."

"Okay, since they did everything and the bell is about to ring, I guess we'll call it a day. Will someone take their bags and give them back to them? Kai's landing in a pond will go amiss in this case."

"What's now then?" Tai asked Matt, both of them standing up and gathering their things, Matt grabbing Kai's bag.

"A twenty minute recess. Just walk around campus, go get a drink or food, whatever." He sharply stated, annoyed at the second hefty bag he had to tote around, "Actually, Izzy wanted to see you today at the recess, now that I think about it… go to the big library building and go to the second floor, he'll be there."

And with that, he walked out of sight through the rear slide door.

"Tai?" a soft voice rambled behind him, revealing itself to be Sora's, "Do you want to get a bite to eat?"

"Sorry," he apologized with a slight bow, adjusting the straps of his backpack, "Matt said I had to go to the library to see this kid called Izzy… do you know where that is?"

She nodded quickly, a vacant expression plastered on her face.

"Can you take me there?" he laughed, covering his shame as the pair walked out the room.

Mai and Iris had watched the entire thing from their desks, the former giggling, "Seems like Sora's starting to make a friend; good for her, she needs someone to talk to, if you ask me."

"Y-yeah, but…" Iris stammered, but just grabbed her bag and briskly strided out of the door, Mai struggling to catch up, _He's stupid! So very stupid!_

oOo

Amazing.

The first time he was speechless this morning was before that hulking beauty of a sports car known as Viper, but this building was equally amazing.

Although it was only two floors high, it looked like four, as large panes of glass made up large windows that connected the floors to the very high ceilings, as tall, stacked bookshelves stood like isles, small, sliding stairs available to reach high up books.

"Wow, now that kicks Kyoto's ass out of the water."

Sora giggled beside Tai, "You really didn't like Kyoto High School much, did you?"

"Hey, when the closest thing they've got to a Chemistry room is the bathroom, they instantly lose to this place. This is… elegant, I guess, compared to that backwater shithole I was forced into for last year."

Sora pouted as they approached the automated glass doors, "You really shouldn't curse like that. My mom became a demon the first time I used one."

"Oh, what was it?"

"When I was eight, I copied what my cousin Duane said to his friends."

"And it was?"

She flushed a little, "I thought he was talking about a cat when one wasn't there, so I did the same and my mom grounded me for a week."

"Oh… _that one_."

"What was yours?" she timidly asked as they entered the library, pulling her voice down.

He whispered back, "Well, when I was eight, I heard my dad say something about my aunt when she'd said my mom could do better, so I told him to grow a set. Not like that, of course, just in a way that is frowned upon… by tennis players."

She didn't even want to know.

Tai looked from side to side, taking it in. Except for the glass guard railing beside the large stair to the right of the first floor, it looked like a supermarket, with shelves stacked high, special sliding steps to aid that, and with a variety of categorized books, shown by small signs like it was the road.

Again, wow.

Coming up to the stairs, the pair walked up, Tai jumping two steps each time, reaching the top and turning off at the left, seeing a single red haired boy sat down before a white and yellow coloured laptop on a coffee table, his drink beside it.

Walking up to him, Tai found a free pair of seats, sitting down and inviting Sora to do the same; she was his guide to third period after this, anyway.

It seemed to be a full minute before Izzy noticed their presence, sitting back in his seat and ungluing his eyes from the laptop screen, "Ah, you must be Tai! And… um…," he rubbed his chin in thought, "Sora! Sora Takenouchi!"

"You know her?"

"I'm the president of the School Council. I remember most of the 700 students names, both here and at the Jr Level school your sister goes too."

_Intense, _Tai couldn't image the strain his brain must be under with that much knowledge, "So why'd you call me here, anyway?"

Izzy dropped his goofy grin, and looked rather sombre, "Are you sure you want her to hear?"

"Yeah, she's my second friend since I got here, plus she seems like a nice person."

"Alright," he began, "I knew I remembered you from elementary school, and back then you seemed to have an attitude problem. One day, I overheard a teacher in the hallway complaining about you for your attitude and blamed it on rough money troubles. Those two points got my attention after I sent you that text yesterday."

"What about it?" Tai queried, trying his hardest not to look affronted by teacher chatter being relayed to him.

"Well, I checked out your sister's record, and she barely scraped a place last year, not because she's a bad student, but because of a deal sorted out between her parents and the Dean to pay instalments of the fee over a period of time. Now, this contrasts to you, as you have a certain attitude in your file the Dean overlooked and dismissed, even if it affected the Tenchu reputation down the road. So I ask, how did your parents, who were struggling to pay for Kari alone, manage to pay for you as well, and get the Dean to overlook your file?"

Tai stiffened in his seat. This was like some professional detective sitting before him, and he and Sora were on the edges of their seats, eager to see where he'd go next.

Izzy rubbed his eyes, "I think that something weird is going on… your parents couldn't have done either, but someone with money and pull could. Tell me the truth, did you get an anonymous benefactor?"

"Yes," he hesitantly admitted, not too sure of it himself, "I don't know why, but while I was in Kyoto, I got a letter from Mom and Dad saying that I was all paid for; even my snazzy new apartment is partly paid for by this person. But I don't know of any major rich people that would do that."

"Maybe you got on their good side without realizing it…" Izzy theorized, "Perhaps you helped them out in one way or another without realizing it, and in their gratitude they paid for this. No offense, but you don't exactly meet grade requirements for entering either, so this must be someone big to sway the Dean like that."

Tai looked down at the coffee table, scratching his ear, "What is this all about? Are you gonna expose me or something, because I don't think that'll work."

Izzy cocked a half smile, "No, it's just that I wanted to know why you're suddenly installed in the Council as a member like me and Matt." He turned his laptop around for Sora and Tai to see, and sure enough, on the list of members in their forum, Tai was prominently listed as the new member, "I just want you to know that you should tread carefully. If word of this ever got out, you'd be kicked out for fraudulent entry; we didn't even go through the voting system. Only the Dean can do that."

Tai gaped at the screen, "I'm a member of the Council? I didn't even want to be on it!"

"Apparently, someone does. Why is for you to figure out, but I now have to explain how your duties in the Council work in the ten minutes we have left." Izzy said, "You need to turn up at least once every week for the meeting at lunch for around twenty minutes, you mustn't get time in the cell and you have to keep out of scandalous activities like vandalism. You also need to be tough, since you might have to chase people down to put them in the cell for rule breaking. You may not have wanted it, but your one of us now."

Sora leant forward in her seat, "But that's ridiculous!"

"Maybe, but it's the Dean's word, and it's greater than our veto power." Izzy simplified, closing his laptop and holding it beneath his arm, beginning to walk to the stairs, "We're having a meeting this lunch, so bring Sora as a guide at the end of the period."

And like that, he was gone.

Tai couldn't believe it. Two hours alone and he joins the School Council? What was happening?

* * *

**A/N: **Well, Tai seems to have friends in high places, doesn't he?

But why?


	5. Chapter 5

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**THE COUNCIL**

* * *

English had passed by without even Tai realizing it. His work was neater and more complete than in Kyoto, but it still paled in comparison to the work of others.

It seems few had chosen English, and none of them included Matt, Sora, Izzy, Kai, Harumi, Iris, Mai or even Mimi; good lord, was it dull. They might as well have used an hourglass, it would've had the same dulling effect on the mind.

He felt a surge of relief pulse through him at the lunch bell ringing out, and even greater relief when he walked through the sliding door, spotting Sora waiting for him down the hallway.

Walking up, he greeted, "Hey, Sora! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Shall we go to the Council building?"

That was sharp and to the point. But Tai had learned the hard way that disturbing a woman when she is sharply replying is all but tantamount to a two hour grinding on mutual respect of privacy.

The pair walked down the staircase (they were on the second floor) and exited through the front entrance of the vast building, Sora taking a right and walking down the slithering path through a mosaic of flowers, finally coming to the end of the path and standing before the Council Building.

_DAMN…_

It was impressive, alright. It was almost camouflaged as a normal building, possibly since it was at the front of the building behind the high main gate and wall.

On a large plaque that had been well polished to bring out the bronze, the words 'STUDENT COUNCIL, FRIENDS TO ALL' were carved in kanji, the three story building looking like one of those dreary business district buildings from New York externally.

Tai walked in through the double doors with Sora to see it internally.

_ULTRA OMEGA DAMN…_

This building was unbelievable! Like one of those police stations you'd find on TV drama, the first floor was a large lobby area, completely devoid of life except for one student sat behind a desk and computer, sipping a cup of tea as the pair approached her.

"Do you have an appointment?" she watched the pair carefully, her eyes a sharp, cutting blue.

"I'm Tai Kamiya, and this is my friend Sora Takenouchi," he recalled Izzy using her name, "Izzy told me to come and see him for the meeting."

Looking rather belayed, she began ferociously typing on her computer, stopping in an instant, "Ah, yes… he said you two had special permission. Since you'll probably be in an out of here like Kai," they both saw a flash of dread, "my name is Rose. I'm the administrator for the Council and the Deployment Chief here."

Tai raised his eyebrow, "Deployment Chief? The hell is that?"

"Izzy will tell you; he's on the third floor meeting room, with the other members, waiting for your arrival. Well, except for her… but to be honest, she should be in that cell right now, so I don't need to care what she thinks."

Tai could tell by the venom laced on her tongue that Mimi was probably the intended target of that; she was one of the members, but by her popularity, not upstanding personality.

Rose pressed something, probably a release switch, and a glass door over in the corner clicked, becoming unlocked. Tai and Sora thanked her quickly, then proceeded to head through the unlocked door, a stair well to the second and third floor down the hallway.

As they got to the second floor stop off point, Tai inspected the door and its plaque;

'FILES AND RECORDS ROOM'

That indicated the reserves of knowledge on every student in the school; in depth knowledge that only trusted, elected members of the Council could look into. This was most likely where Izzy had read Kari's file.

He could see it in his head; a floor wide, single roomed library, almost like a police records room. Too bad that a key hole in the door prevented any unauthorized entry.

The friends continued to scale the stairs, finally coming up to the third floor door, with a pair of plaques on it reading;

'STUDENT COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SPECIAL PERSONS ONLY

BREAKING IN RESULTS IN A WEEK IN THE CELL'

_Harsh… must be keeping something as important as the records in here, _Tai thought, noticing that the door had been left semi-open for him.

Pushing it open, he found another hallway before him, although this one was straight, rather narrowed and had windows on the ceiling allowing light in to illuminate two wooden doors on each side, and one at the end with the plaque for 'MEETING ROOM' on it.

Like the walk to the gallows, the pair slowly edged closer to the door, reading the small inserts in the tiles holsters beside the doors, small papers reading;

'VICE PRESIDENT JOE KIDO'

'BUDGET MANAGER IRIS AKAGAMI'

So Iris was a member too… that made it feel easier as they stood before the door, mustering up what little strength hadn't abated and hollowed them out, Tai reaching for the handle when he and Sora began hearing shouts bombard against the door.

"… _He is perfectly allowed to be here…!"_

"… _He's not qualified, and besides, how did he get on the Council in a day…?"_

"…_Mimi, you're not jealous of your record getting broken, are you? We asked the same thing when you suddenly joined in the first year after three days…!"_

"… _Mai, that was then, this is now! Who voted for him to get in anyway…?"_

The door opened from the other side, Izzy looking at Tai in a little surprise, "I did. Not to mention Joe, Matt, Iris, Mai and TK did. It's all of us against you, Mimi."

Tai was gestured in, spotting a large long table, like the one at business meetings, before him, with stacked shelves compacting the space in the room even more with the Council members and their leather, reclining chairs. This school was like heaven; how rich the funders must be was beyond Tai.

"Speak of the devil," Mai giggled, edging a glance in Iris's direction, "it's our newest member. And Sora as well! Can she join too? I like her!"

Izzy shot her a scathing glare, "There are no more positions on the Council available. Don't get peoples hopes up for nothing."

"Edgy…"

"Now then, you two," Izzy clapped his hands, "I'll explain your role here. Sora will be allowed as a special case member to come here so that she can show you the ropes. She was a member until last year, so she'll be your mentor. Sora, are you okay with that?"

She looked blankly from him to Tai, eventually nodding once.

"That's good. Alright, first off, introductions. I'm Izzy, the president of the Council, Iris is in charge of the budget that keeps most of this school afloat, Joe is my vice, Matt is in charge of entertainments for the students, Mai is in charge of event planning, TK is the chosen embodiment of the Jr. School here and Mimi is in charge of environmental management."

Tai held it back, _Environmental management? The crazed chick is an eco-warrior?_

A snort must have escaped his nose softly, since Mimi scowled deeper at his presence, although he ignored it.

Izzy went on, "Your position is a relatively new one. You will be enforcing the rules, which may not sound glamorous, but let me sum it up. You will receive a special report from Rose, the Deployment Chief, about any troublesome students that need a lesson and putting into the cell. You're like the archetypical policeman for Tenchu."

Tai blinked, "By lessons, you mean hurt people? Isn't that illegal, or does the law not apply here?"

Matt went on, "Basically, you will teach a lesson with a hex or something. Don't hurt them, just teach them a lesson by embarrassing them or something, and then deliver them to Rose. Your job ends there, so don't worry about the police coming on assault charges; if you don't hit them, they have nothing to go on."

Tai just couldn't believe this. It was a little much…

Izzy could read his face as if it were a book, "Don't worry about it. The Dean himself has your back while you've got this position. Give it a try. You might enjoy it. Besides, the people we send you after have verified bullying habits and extortion and such, meaning they can't go to the police and risk themselves."

Tai nodded, but his voice came out like a jeer, "… This is gonna suck…"

Iris ignored him, "In addition, you come to these meetings once a week and have a say in any action this school might take apart from those decided by the Dean. For example, right now Mai is giving us her ideas for the Serenade Festival next week."

"The what?" _A Lemonade Festival?_

Sora walked up beside him, her eyes burning with excitement, "It's a small scale festival, like a Culture Fest, only for the students alone. It'll have music, exhibitions and stuff like that. Matt'll be playing with his band in it again by the posters."

"Okay…" Tai mumbled, taking the free seat beside Matt, Sora getting the one next to Tai, much to Iris's silent displeasure.

Mai smiled brightly, "So, do you have any exhibition ideas? We have a horror house, a play and one or two cafes! But we can't think of anything else that will interest most of the undecided students."

Matt felt a little sour, _Teenage Wolves not worth much to this school anymore or something? Geez!_

Tai guffawed in his throat, a dark glint in his eye, "Isn't it obvious? By what I've seen today, the best exhibition would be an exhibition boxing match between Kai and Harumi, where Kai has to use his feet to balance it out."

The blonde beside him felt his shoulders shoot up and down with a restrained laugh, "Doesn't that eliminate the point of boxing? What would he do?"

"What do you mean? I'm just giving an idea that'd attract people; the battle of all battles; Kai against that insane chick Harumi! Sure the girls will love it."

Apart from Mimi, who was still withholding her input, the members and Sora laughed at his idea, Mai tempted to put it in, "Not a bad idea… but I doubt that Kai would want to have a non-compete boxing match against the girl he calls a surfboard every five minutes."

Matt shook his head, "When I gave him his bag earlier, he'd moved on to 'Nibblets'."

All of the girls became lightly florid at this, looking away to different areas of the small room.

"Well anyway," Mai cleared her throat, "I'd say that we don't want to push that line. How about a specialised café or something? 2-C can do something like that, right? A gimmick," he pointed sharply at Matt and Tai, "and no maid outfits."

They couldn't withhold their growl and moans at that forbiddance.

Matt thought on it for a second, "How about 2-C's girls get together and do singing for customers while the boys serve drinks? Sort of like a jazz club, only the girls might want to do pop songs."

Mulling it over, Iris turned to her blonde compatriot, "Mai, it does sound acceptable. Since we'll have boys doing all the service, I doubt the boy customers would get rowdy surrounded by them."

"Well, you do have a point… alright, let's carry the motion. All in favour of 2-C, the last class needing an exhibit, hosting this club-café, raise your hands."

Tai, Matt, TK, Izzy, Iris and Mai raised their hands quickly, Joe slowly joining them. Mimi gave them all a dark glance over from her seat.

The motion carried, everyone sat back down, Tai leaning across to Matt and whispering in his ear, "This Mimi schedule… I thought it said that she'd be out of her skull right now."

Matt hissed back caution quietly, "This is a safe-zone. Even she isn't stupid enough to try anything in here. That'd be like walking in and committing murder in prison. She's pretty touchy when it comes to the other members for different reasons, so she has to watch herself."

Tai shifted his eyes from the side of Mimi's head to Matt, "So she has something against you?"

"If only you knew…" _Not to mention the crazed bitch has my licence._

"Tai," Izzy's voice imperially overcame the mutterings in the room, "you'll start your role tomorrow. Come here a few minutes before the start of the day and Rose will give you the report. You can do it during the first recess or lunch, or even after school, since you can leave the Academy site freely and the dorm kids either need a pass or good sneaking skills to slip out into town."

Tai gave a hefty sigh, _My precious sister and her dunce friends slipped out before… what happened to the baby sister I knew and loved?_ "Hold on… this Rose girl downstairs… doesn't she have lessons?"

"Rarely," Izzy shrugged, "she's a super genius, one of the top three students in the Academy with me and a guy called Hinata. Whenever she's not here, someone from administration fills in her place."

"Wow," was all he managed, standing up from his chair and hoisting his quickly filling bag of homework and textbooks, "intense… so, I hope we all get along." It sounded more like a question, his eyes flickering in Mimi's direction.

_Don't worry, Tai. I have something special in mind for you, _Mimi cryptically thought, almost wishing she had telepathic powers, _I wonder what'll break first; your spirit or your body._

Joe caught sight of her evil gaze, his face tightening, _Great… she's got something going on again. I just need her to slip up one time, just once to send her to the Dean. I need to stop her somehow before she causes anymore suffering here._

Tai felt a small vibration in his pocket as he edged through the small space to the door, pulling it out, snapping it open and reading this;

'TAICHI KAMIYA

Hey, it's Kai. Before you ask, I've gotten your number from your sister.

Listen, I know Mimi's gunning for you now since you stood up to her,

so I'd like to help you out in any way I can, so call or message me if she

does anything or acts weird.

KAI TOORU

DATED APRIL 4TH AT 12:12 PM'

Sora tapped him on the shoulder, "Are you okay?"

He snapped his phone closed, pocketed it, and feigned a piteous face, "Please, show me to the cafeteria."

Mai had walked around the table discreetly, nudging Iris in the side, the red faced girl standing and grabbing her bag, "C-can we go?"

Mai resisted slapping her forehead, _You… just you! You've been after him for years, and that's still all you can muster?_ "Y-yeah, can WE join you?"

"Sure," Tai nodded, the four walking out of the meeting room and toward the stair case through the narrow hallway, passing Iris and Joe's rooms, "So, a room? You and Joe have offices?"

"Nah, there just storage rooms for records we think are important, like the budget cuts and stuff," the blonde replied, a little more strength in her voice than before since Mai was there.

oOo

After five minutes of contemplation and pondering in her seat, Mimi had finally worked her way out of the building, heading off nowhere in particular, but she needed a stroll.

The caramel locks bounced off of her shoulders, her pace fast, _Right… I need a way to get to Tai, chink his armour like all the other boys, and then work my way from there… I will not let any male get in my way, ever again. I got enough of that sweet talk crap from Dad, but he still ditched me to the Black Swan. If I'd taught him his place quicker, maybe…_

"MIMI!" a pair of voices huffed behind her, running steps approaching.

"Shut up and leave me alone." She jeered, halting on the spot and firing off a deathly, hallowing glare at Nami and Karen, the blonde and raven haired girls from the Home Ec. class, "Oh, you two… what is it?"

Although she was acquaintances of the pair, her voice was still gruff, almost a warning that her time is best left un-wasted.

It worked, since Nami's voice was like a child about to get spanked, "N-nothing that wastes your time, Mimi. We just wanted to know if you want in on a little fun."

Karen went on, flicking her black hair over her shoulder, "Remember Sora from the hazing last year? Well, we were thinking that we'd milk that bit of entertainment for all its worth, but we need a plan, so we came to see you."

_Sora? The one I convinced Kenta to turn on? _Mimi pulled a finger to her chin as if wiping it, "Why, what's she done?" _I don't really care, but let's see._

"She's hanging around, getting buddy-buddy with the new kid in our class, following him around like a lapdog. We want to warn her off again." Karen revealed.

Mimi felt a spark of genius flow through her well maintained frame, _Wait… Sora… I remember her now! Last year, it's the same Sora with Tai! I think I know the bullet that'll chink his armour now. _"Next week at the Serenade Festival. I'll text you the plan later."

As the girl shifted away, Nami and Karen let out a shudder they felt in their spines, the blonde upholding a smile, "Can always count on Mimi… doesn't really matter how out of her mind she is, but Kai called it right with the schedule; I saw a dark glint in her eye."

oOo

"Thank you… thank you… thank you…" Tai kept on repeating through munches, eyes almost like a puppies as he wolfed down the two sweet breads he could afford, the four friends sat on a bench outside the cafeteria.

This was the closest to an actual meal he'd had since he'd left Kyoto; there was nothing in his fridge this morning, and the cake / bun he had tasted rancid since he'd had it all in one go.

The three girls looked at him from both sides since he sat between Sora and Iris, Mai at the other end. They all had bentos opened, eating with grace and savouring the flavours of each piece by using their chopsticks.

"Your… welcome?" Mai mumbled, placing some food in her mouth.

Iris and Sora looked a little peached, the blonde taking initiative, "Tai… what was that text earlier?"

He looked down at her, the bread still protruding out of his mouth, "It was from Kai."

"What was it about?"

Tai nearly swallowed the bread whole; he couldn't tell them that Kai was helping because he'd pissed off the one girl you shouldn't piss off!

Think, Tai, think! He looked for clues for an elaborate story, first, Kai, second… uh… the buns from earlier! Finally… Iris will do, now mix it all together and you get, "He said you had soft buns in Home Ec."

Oh dear God no… a storm was brewing beside him.

He'd meant to talk about the buns Iris had made, because they weren't exactly cakes in his opinion, just iced buns. But Kai had earlier said…

Iris became as flushed as a siren, her anger legitamizing the danger of one, "H-he said what? T-that no g-good pervert, I oughta-!"

Tai slapped his forehead, _Idiot, he grabbed her boobs and called them soft buns! _"No-no, he didn't mean that, he meant the cake-?" he noticed that she was no longer there, Mai giggling to herself, "Where has she gone?"

"She moved so quickly you missed it. She's gone looking for Kai," she released between laughs, "she's on a manhunt because you forgot this morning."

"Your psychic…" he sighed, taking a hearty bite from his second bread piece, "so… is Kai the type to hold a grudge?"

"Usually, no. But in this case, since she's intent on hurting him bad, so probably yes," she looked up and mocked him further on the bench, "do you feel that bloodlust in the air too?"

"Don't worry, Tai," Sora hastily input, waving her hands deflectively, "everyone makes mistakes. Even me and Mai will have made a mistake or two in our lives, so don't feel bad!"

"But you two seem so perfect and innocent; what could you have done that rated as bad, kick a guy in the junk?"

Sora looked down at her feet and didn't answer, Tai not taking it further at the tug he felt looking at her.

Mai also looked down-hearted for a second, _Sora… so it does still hurt you…_

The awkwardness (and possibly Kai, for now) was spared as the bell rang out from multiple buildings, indicating the end of the lunch period.

Tai reached into his backpack and pulled out the small timetable he'd been given; fourth was Physical Education, his greatest subject that he'd probably exceed at compared to these genius, non-athletic types.

Sora and Mai sprang to their feet from the bench, and smiled sweetly before running in the direction of their fourth lesson, Tai pulling out his trusty old map of the campus.

oOo

Forget that. He would've found it on his own, as two minutes later with the directions in his hands, he stood before the hulking building housing the sports facilities and such, a large track and field behind it with soccer goals in the distance as well.

The gallant building was mostly glass window planes the size of the library's, curving toward Tai as they went higher, supported by struts. And that was just the front; brilliant silver paint graced the side and back walls with insignia and the Tenchu badge painted at each side, gracing the glass, automated doors that split and opened when Tai stepped on the pressure pad.

The inside was just like a gym, a well-organized, well-kept gym at that, with several corridors with a multitude of signs above them, the paths twisting and turning like a maze in this gigantic establishment.

'SOCCER PATH

CHEERLEADING PATH

BASKETBALL PATH'

They read out like walks of life teenagers face metaphorically, only materialized for undecided sports kids.

Noticing a small window to his side, Tai found an administrative help zone for the building, a short, middle aged teacher with greying hair looking up from his magazine to work his shift as the help desk attendant.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a sting, annoyed at the reading disturbance, "Oh, wait… I heard there was a new kid starting today," he looked to his left, likely at a small note, "Taichi Kamiya… you have Co-Ed Dodgeball today. Please head down the Basketball pathway and Mr. Tane will fill you in on your schedule."

Tai was going to question him, but he had already stuck his nose back into his magazine, the Kamiya turning on his heel and walking down the long line of pathways until he found 'Basketball', walking down it.

With a left and a right turn on his way down, passing billboards and small posters on his way, he finally came to a 'T' shaped end, one door at the end of the path of the 'T' for boys, one for girls.

Turning right for boys, he opened the door and found a locker room before him, a bustling crowd of at least ten boys getting into their assigned kits.

He felt a small drop since Kai was there; it seemed Iris had missed him.

"Yo, Tai! You do Physical Education too?" Kai asked after spotting him close the door, "Listen, you need to collect your kit from Tane when you get in, and then get changed."

Not doubting him, Tai placed his backpack on the hook provided, walking down to the small archway, turning left and opening the door, entering the average sized basketball court with the lines painted and the wooden floor heavily polished.

In the centre, Tane stood, looking amazed by his presence. He was a 30 something year old man with a rough stubble and near bald haircut.

"Ah, you must be Taichi!" he repeated like the first teacher at the help desk, "I have your kit right over there," he pointed to a small wrapped up uniform sitting at the side, "pry it out and put it on, we have a special treat for the first day back! Co-Ed Dodgeball!"

oOo

Once again before his bag in the changing room, Tai tore his uniform from its confines, quickly putting it on before inspecting it.

A white polo shirt that was a little baggy on him with red trim and hem, the Tenchu logo on the left side of the chest with black sports shorts, white socks with 'TENCHU' knitted down the side and borrowed white trainers in place of his own for today.

Kai had waited for him, and the pair made their way through the doors and into the gym, stretching with squats, sit ups, elongation of the arms and so on until the other opened, the girls bleeding through.

Tai slapped his face, fearing for the slip of the tongue earlier.

Among the ten girls, Iris and Mimi walked in, along with Karen from Home Ec.

In Co-Ed Dodgeball, he was sure Kai would get hurt somehow, whether it be his teammate mutinying or Iris just being on the other team.

Either way, he'd have to brace himself.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, I'm going to start time skips like that English lesson now, because who would believe all of this happening on the first day?


	6. Chapter 6

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**LET THE GAMES BEGIN  
**

* * *

Kai had been taken to the nurse's office to get two ice packs, as the two welts from a double whammy shot where the ball bounced off of his face the first time and got thrown as he stood by Iris had definitely left its mark. Or rather, _marks_.

Tai had helped Kai along to the nurse after the pair had changed, and sat at his bedside, a comical face plastered to Kai, along with a constant twitch. He was still awake, after all.

After a while he sat up, looked Tai in the eyes (he was sat on a visitor's seat watching the television in the corner of the room) and asked, "What was her problem? She decimated me!"

"Well, you did grab her sweet spots in Home Ec.," Tai pointed out, standing up from the seat and heading for the door, sliding it open, "I've got Psychology to go to. After that, I'm thinking I might go to my mom's place."

Kai waved at him from the bed, "See you tomorrow! I've got Science fifth period, so, hope you had a good first day!"

And with that, Tai slid the door closed, heading down the hallway with the directions the nurse had kindly given him. His first day had been… eventful, if anything. He silently thanked Buddha that he lived outside the Academy, because he wouldn't want to be in this crazy place at night, or in the dorms.

God knows it'd changed Kari from a sweet, gentle girl into a teen girl intent on pushing the line in the sand, drinking hours before her first day and playing twister with her tongue.

She is a very smart student, though, so maybe she thought she'd get away with it; she was only a Jr. Level in the Academy anyway, right?

oOo

Psychology was located on the fourth floor on the far eastern wing of the mammoth main Tenchu building.

Sliding the door aside, Tai was confronted by a bland room; white walls, dotted ceiling tiles, a whiteboard, a front desk, a few shelves filled by thick texts by Sigmund Freud and other well-known Psychologists.

He heard a herd of feet heading his way, correctly deducing them as his class and thus entering the room, taking the back row, window seat (his favourite in every lesson). As his class began to fall in, taking seats dotted around the room, Mai went up beside Tai, taking the seat next to him in the back row.

"I heard Kai was put through hell on Earth," she joked, "you worded something wrong instead of saying 'it's personal' and this is how it turns out. There hasn't been such an amazing first day of school term with a new kid, EVER."

"Maybe… something like that," he cryptically deflected any fault on his part, "anyway, what's going on in this class? I just want an easy lesson so I can crawl back to my place and catch some sleep for the first time in nearly two days."

He purposefully missed out the long sleep on the bus to sound more awesome.

"Psychology is about the workings and functions of the mind." She rolled her eyes at the simplification.

"Okay, okay, no need to bite my head off."

"Well, it was a stupid question."

oOo

Well… that was…

Enlightening?

Tai had come out of the final lesson of the day, resisting the urge to drool a trail from him back to the room; some of the stuff was like astronomically out of his league.

What had he been thinking; even Science would have been better than that. Sheesh!

When the final bell rang out loud, he snapped back into action; he had to locate Matt, and fast. He had no idea of any cab, train or bus service available on this outskirt part of Odaiba; most of the business and therefor services were only available in the centre, nearby the Rainbow Bridge and unique TV Station.

_I just want to go home… maybe grab a bite to eat at mom and Kari's… sounds weird to think of the place as a separate home, _Tai thought sadly as he continued down the flights of stairs, returning to the help desk at the front entrance, literal isles of shoe lockers standing tall before him, kids grabbing their sneakers and heading off to the dorms.

"Have a good first day?" the old woman from earlier that morning asked sincerely, "Did you find your way around well with the map?"

"Yeah, I had a good day. I'm gonna like it here." Tai put simply with a mischievous smirk that didn't go amiss.

Recalling where his row generally was in the shoe rack store, Tai worked back, re-tracing his steps and finally finding his; it was a small, wooden door three shelves up, and now it had his name in kanji imprinted on it.

"Geez, they shouldn't have," Tai had never felt as imperial and special as right now, opening the shoe locker while rummaging on the heels of his indoor shoes to remove them, "Eh? What's this?"

In the corner of his eye, he spotted Matt at the end of his row (probably waiting for him), a slightly shorter girl with braided raven hair looking up to him, as if competing, her face florid.

"Please, won't you even think it over?" she begged almost pathetically, "My friends and I are really big fans, maybe your biggest! We just…"

Matt shrugged, "Listen, just pay for the tickets you and your friends need if you want to see the Wolves next week at the festival. Don't sell _yourself_ as an object to avoid a small fee." His voice was irritant and shrewd.

"B-but I do like you, Matt! I really do!" Tai could sense the forced squeak in her throat; one of desperate lying.

"See, your friends Mizuho and Charity already tried the exact same thing earlier at lunch. Listen, 1000 yen may seem steep for backwater idiots like me and my friends to play for you, but it is better than doing something you regret forever to get in free."

Her face hardened, reddening, "I don't have money to flaunt like so many other kids at this Academy, you know. My dad's alone and working overdrive to make sure I stay here, and yet I can't go see a simple concert for something like 1000 yen."

The blonde sighed, as if someone tried to veto Ghandi and his reasoning for peace, "Listen, I know you aren't cheap like that; you're a nice, pretty and smart girl. Surely you could get a boyfriend easily that would take you without the shame of what your suggesting."

"As if… boys are into one thing only… offer it to them, they take it and leave immediately. That's what my mom found when she switched to some young jackass from my dad," she spitefully added. She no longer looked up to him like a girl, but like Madusa, "tell me, can you think of one guy you know of who doesn't have girls or their bodies on their minds alone? Can you?"

Matt reared his heel a bit, her eyes demonic, hypnotic and many other scary things ending in 'ic', "W-well," he stammered, "I have this new friend I made today called Tai!"

Oh, no he does not!

He does not intend to shift the crazy woman to him!

"He's as far from a straight thinking guy when it comes to girls as you can get! Hell, show him a girl suckling a banana, he wouldn't bat an eye to it!"

Tai gave his Death God / Shinigami grip to Matt's shoulder, a yelp and jolts of pain surging forth, "What the hell are you trying to do? It's my first day and you're trying to haze me?"

The blonde tapped out on Tai's unrelenting claw, the girl looking on, hand over her mouth, like it was a gaudy scene, "What's the matter with you? I'm just telling Yuki here about how you'd sooner be the emotional male equivalent of a female than pick up a porn magazine-!" the grip tightened, "**OWOWOWOW!**"

Yuki slapped Tai's claw, the boy retracting it beneath her bloody glare, "Violence is not good, Tai."

"And you've taught her my name while telling her a pack of lies," he snarled, Matt comically deflecting with his hands, "remember my bun from this morning?"

He laughed, "Yeah… you sure have had a hell of a day, eh?" suddenly, an evil glint appeared in Matt's eye, "You know Yuki… if you're having money troubles, as a special member of the Council, Tai can help you with money issues."

Tai felt ominous forces at work, "Actually that would be Iris-!" it went unheard as a hand clasped around his mouth, "Mmpph!"

The blonde went on, holding his own Death Grip over Tai's mouth, "If you come tomorrow in the morning, Tai can help you with any problem you may have."

Yuki looked up into Tai's eyes, those black orbs like vacuums; empty. It was… concerning to look into, to put it lightly.

Bowing quickly, she said, "T-thank you… I won't bother you with such a proposition again," before turning and running toward the girls dorms. (There were boys, girls and a co-ed dorm for overcrowding and for the passive to gender separation in school).

As Matt looked back at Tai, his face beaming and basking Tai's foul look in his pride, he released his hold over his mouth, edging away toward the Viper, Tai following shortly thereafter.

oOo

"I hate you a little now," Tai began after a five minute silence while on the road, his travel buddy beaming immensely, "you thought you could actually try and stick me with a girl that was sooner castrate than talk to me?"

"Kinda… oh, what the hell… yes," he chuckled, eying the road carefully as they came to the freeway, "she was going against her natural personality when she was asking me. I think that she was pressured into it by her friends after I turned them down at lunch."

"What did they offer?"

"Take a guess. A fun night if I gave them free tickets into my band's concert next week at the Serenade Festival. I'm sorry, but I'm not the type of guy to take advantage of a person like that, especially when they'll regret it later."

Tai made an assumption pretty quickly, lying back into the leather seat of the Viper, "I take it your mom and dad regret what happened. That's why you're like that, isn't it?"

He was unusually candid about it, "Yeah… well, they've gotten together for 'secret' meals together at fancy restaurants and stuff, but they both stop trying to reconcile when the divorce comes up. After that, it's like shit city all over again; drinking a little much, harsh words thrown and such."

"Still, they keep trying bud. Maybe one day it'll work again; jive, if you catch my drift."

Matt chuckled deeply, "That what you're hoping for your parents? Don't do what I did, alright? When I was nine and visiting TK, I found this douche throwing abuse at my mom in the living room, beer everywhere. That was one of her flings, and I punched him."

"A nine year old?" Tai echoed in the car with disbelief, "How did you-?"

"Don't get too impressed," Matt looked docilely through the windscreen, "he was blind, stupid drunk. Even without my tiny fist and its small amount of force, he would've been out in a few seconds. Got Hell from my mom for doing it, though."

Tai sighed, "I get the point. I am still going over later, even if there is another dude there. I will only hit him if he is a douche, I solemnly swear."

"You're like a buffed up sumo; you've got the strength of one, but you look like a twig."

"How would you know I'm strong?" he asked in curiosity.

Matt took a hand-off of the wheel, pointing to his finger imprinted shoulder; the Death God Claw had made its impression, clearly.

Tai smiled from ear to ear, a light laugh escaping his throat as he looked forward at the road, noticing an inconsistency; they were in a sports car, and yet they were being overtaken by slower, non-stallion cars.

"Why are you going so slow? This morning you nearly broke 80," he looked at the speedometer, "you're going a steady 65!"

"Sorry, I'm drained from all the fangirls of my band hounding for my number," he smiled like sprinklings atop his lie, _I've got to think of a way to get my real licence back and fast… This guy's a good guy, and yet I'm spying on him for that crazed slut… this is insane._

oOo

Mimi was in the Black Swan, her own room a bright pink painted affair with stacked to capacity shelves filled with CD's, fashion magazines and 'How To' books for girls to do makeup and such. Her bag and books had been tossed aside, resting against her large wardrobe, the inside of it filled with fashionable clothes and a plethora of shoes.

Looking up at the ceiling (pink), she waved her legs up in the air, her back resting on her pink, floral sequined sheets as a vibrating rumbled the wood of her bedside table.

Grabbing her flip-up phone (pink-ish), she opened messages and found a new one from Matt, a personal name tag associated in the place of 'Matt'.

'MIMI TACHIKAWA

Alright, I drove him home, and he talked about going to

his mom's place in the Natsu District of Odaiba,

and I sincerely hope you ride all the way down to hell

tied to an atomic bomb called 'BITCH BUSTER'.

THE DOGMATIC HE-SHE (Matt)

DATED APRIL 4TH AT 16:02 PM'

She smiled at the fourth report on Tai she'd received that day, almost like a sick obsession, "That's helpful, isn't it," she sarcastically put to herself, "Matt knows his place now that I have his licence as his Achilles Heel… wonder what Tai's will be?"

There was a clicking at her door knob, slowly opening the way to reveal Yolei on the other end, looking rather lost, "U-um… Mimi? You have a minute?"

Mimi and Yolei went _way _back as good friends, mostly because Yolei idolized Mimi, and still does today, although she turns the notches down the broad spectrum evil a few 'Nefarious' amps.

"Ah, Yolei!" Mimi announced to herself like a normal high school, energetic girl that wasn't rumoured to be spawned by Lucifer, leaping off her bed, "Are you doing okay? Why did you come all the way from your apartment?"

"W-well…" Yolei had always found it easy to confide in Mimi; she was the only one that Mimi would never trick, deceive or ruin, "I need your advice on a boy… you see, I, um… that is-,"

"It's fine," she smiled sweetly, inviting her to sit beside her on the edge of the mattress and sheets, "I get the general idea. So, who is it?"

"His name's Ken… Ichijouji from my class…"

"The genius from the Jr. School?" Mimi blinked thrice, "Good choice, Yolei. He always seems so shy whenever I spot him; he's like a celebrity version of you."

Yolei flushed at the soft giggle, "H-hey! I'm not nervous!"

"You were years ago when I first met you. Although we've been through good and bad times together, I'll always remember the sniffling and sobbing little girl in the park."

"M-Mimi… about Ken… what should I do to make him like me? It's like I'm a ghost when he passes…"

(Mimi, when not going Super-Evil, is the princess of gossip, good times and boy talks, even though she hates them at her core. A confusing girl if there ever was one, indeed).

"Well, I'd personally-,"

oOo

Tai was thankful that day was over. He had been dropped off at his apartment, and chucked his bag aside when he entered his sanctuary of a room, almost giving his bed a hug before remembering he wanted to visit his mom.

Taking off the school uniform and re-hanging it on the coat-hanger inside his wardrobe, Tai proceeded to put on a black, long sleeved shirt with dark blue cargos and black trainers on, putting his blue jackets on as well to wade off the cold, as it was quickly turning dark.

Walking back into his living area, he figured he'd check the TV schedule for when he'd be getting back.

Grabbing the remote and activating the screen, the news flicked up after he'd neglected to change it before turning it off.

'Residents of the Natsu, Marunuchi and Shinbashi districts of Odaiba have voiced growing

concerns over the safety of their children and relatives after a rise

in petty muggings, assaults and sexual harassment cases in response to declining

job security and a sharp rise in unemployment.

To stem this rise, industrialization of other regions of Odaiba, not just the central

area, have begun construction and jobs are slowly rising, but the warning about the desperate and

unemployed muggers and assailants is stressed.'

Wow, shit had indeed hit the fan since Tai had left just over one year ago, hadn't it?

Maybe he was Odaiba's crowning jewel that repelled evil… nah.

Switching the TV promptly off, Tai headed for his door, forgetting all about the TV listings he had wanted.

It was when Tai walked through the glass door entrance of his apartment building that it hit him; when it got dark, it got really cold. Like really, _really _cold.

The timing was almost too perfect, and it brought back a memory of a similar setting. Tai was eight at the time, taking Kari to the store on one of the rare 'double work nights', meaning his mom and dad entrusted Kari to him. He had taken her to the store in frosty air like this in the same month, April, and she had collapsed from a weak constitution. His mom and dad re-arranged after that to ensure the two of them were never alone in the apartment at any time. Oh, how starkly contrast it is to today's Kamiya family; separated by two incidents that happened unfortunately on the same night.

Not wanting to relish in the memory, what with the thick dark building and the cold, Tai began to head down the street towards his original home.

oOo

While not the home he was born and bound to like Highton View Terrace, Odaiba Towers was just as nice in his mind, if not better. He had many memories with Kari and his parents stored in there, some in photo and video format. It was like his own euphoric Eden.

Stood before that good old grey, dull door on the sixth floor of the apartment complex, Tai glanced at the name plate hung beside it; a wooden oval with 'KAMIYA' engraved in it.

Grabbing at the door handle, Tai opened the door, taking in everything; the corridor, the bathroom door to the right, the kitchen unit just in sight and the living room and finally, his room, at the far right… it had been so long since he'd been in this magical place.

"Mom?" he called out, taking the guest slippers the Kamiyas had at the entrance way and slipping them on, "It's me, Tai! I'm here to see how you're doing!"

"Sweetie?"

God, he hated to do this but…

"Yes… it's me, sweetie."

His mother's head bobbed out of the kitchen unit, a serene smile on her face at the sight of him, "Come in, come in! I haven't had one of my children here since Kari left to live in the dorms!"

He heard nothing but love, but he also sensed a certain loneliness in her tone.

He walked down the hallway so nervously it might as well been the walk to the gallows; he walked so rigidly, "How are you doing, Mom?"

"I'm fine, sweetums," she exclaimed with a chirp as Tai walked into the good old living area; still the same, "I'm going out in a few minutes though, so you might want to make your trip quick."

"Don't beat around the bush, mom," he explained, recalling Matt's words, "if you have a date, you have a date. You don't need to hide it from me. I just want your honesty when it comes to dad and you is all."

She looked over the small wall separating the kitchen unit, watching feverishly as Tai planted down in his favourite spot on the second couch, "Y-yes… that seems to be alright, sweetie. About your dad and I, it's complicated…"

He did not like the sound of that, "What, that your married but seeing other people for fun? It's just like a get together with your friends, mom, nothing serious."

She looked away.

Oh, good God…

"That bad?" he asked slowly.

She did not utter a word, but nodded her head, looking at her watch to distract herself, "Listen, Tai, honey," his nickname for apologies? "me and your father… we're… working on it. Can we leave it at that for now? Even Kari beginning to show hurt whenever I look at her…"

_I wonder why, _Tai venomously thought, but offered in a kindly voice, "Its fine, mom. Go at your own pace, if you catch my drift. No need to push yourself."

oOo

Well, that visit fell on deaf ears for the ten minutes after that before Tai had to leave. He was told he was allowed back anytime, and that she would make more family time with him and Kari when she could.

He felt so much pent up rage at the screw ups in his family these days, but he couldn't bring himself to blame his mom face to face; she paid for his education, his toys, gave him unfaltering, unwavering love and affection… what kind of son would-?

"I SAID, LEAVE THE BAG, AND YOU GET TO WALK AWAY, LITTLE GIRL!"

He heard the voice from the end of the pathway in front of him; the street was empty, possibly because of the seamless wandering Tai had gone on since leaving. It was now 8:30, one of the few times this place isn't bustling.

Two thugs in hoods, street muggers, he assumed, loomed over a small girl in a uniform… the Tenchu Academy uniform.

It was Yuki with her handbag in tow!

How the hell she'd gotten out at this time was a mystery; who escapes the Academy wearing their school uniform and carrying their bag?

"L-leave me alone, jerks!" he heard her squeak, swinging her bag, trying to fend them off like it was a hammer, "Go away!"

"No way," one of the thugs grunted beneath his hood, "you've got to have money on you if your one of those Tenchu Academy turd buckets. All high and mighty, even if confronted by poor people who want you to… spread the wealth?"

"Not just spread the wealth," the other snorted, clasping one of her wrists like a vice, a yelp of pain escaping, and her eyes growing watery and terror-filled as he lowered down for a face-to-face, "spread _'em_."

That was going too far, Tai hurrying over to the pair as Yuki began to sob a little, "Back off, dickweed, and take the friendly neighbourhood cocksucker there with you."

His rage was boiling, and this was a great stress reliever, if ever there was one.

"The hell did you say?" the one holding Yuki roared, turning to him and holding her in front of him like a shield, "You want me to hurt this rich brat?"

"Smooth move there, threaten me by threatening a girl. What, afraid your fingers might be broken if you went for someone over five foot four?"

"That's it, he's dead!" the other bellowed, raising his fist like a hammer above his head and going for a sluggish blow, Tai easily standing aside from it, clutching his extended wrist with his outer hand, bending the inside arm and slamming his elbow directly into his chin, following up with a hard judo arm-throw, the thug hitting his head and passing out.

It had happened in a flash, and when Tai looked demonically back at the other hooded thug, he saw fear in his pin point eyes, Yuki's glistening at the bottom with tears, the black orbs shining slightly at him.

"You-!" the thug howled, pushing Yuki roughly aside and charging Tai, throwing his arms forward like he was going for a strangle hold.

Tai countered calmly and efficiently by slapping his hands away by pushing his forearm, kicking up as hard as he could, a gargling sound giving way to a huge crash as he hit his head on the pavement, he and his partner out cold rather quickly.

Yuki was nestled on the floor, almost trying to defend as much of herself in a small bundle as she could, "T-Tai…" she mumbled, her eyes shining in the faint light of the nearby lamp post, "I-I was c-coming to see you, b-but I got lost…"

Tai held out his hand, helping her up, "Alright, alright… listen, we may want to get away from these guys before they wake up and try to team up, so… wanna talk at my place?"

Before she could argue, he was already ushering her along to his end of the Natsu district.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, Tai can certainly give a stern kick, eh?

Review your thoughts if you'd like. It's much appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

**THE REAL FOLK BLUES**

…

**HOW TO REFORM BULLIES : 101**

* * *

"Here," Tai offered a coffee mug to Yuki, who was sat on his couch, regally scanning over his apartment, "it's not much, but it'll heat you up quick enough."

Yuki barely glanced at him as she grasped the mug, taking a ginger sip, "So this is a boy's apartment… wonder if the boys dorms are clean after all."

"Don't get your hopes up," he laughed, sitting on the other side of the 'L' couch, "I only got here this morning, after all. Plenty of time to crash and thrash the place; if you catch my drift."

Taking another lady like sip, Yuki gazed over at him as he leant forward.

"So, why were you walking in the middle of the night in your school uniform and with your bag? Didn't you know there are perverts and thugs around at night?"

"W-well," she stammered, pushing her mug away from her like acid, "I needed to see you as soon as possible… Matt said you could help me with my money problem; the truth is, I'm not poor like I said. I just have my money extorted from me…"

"Extorted?" Tai said interestedly, leaning further in on his seat (he had no idea what extort meant, in truth), "That's horrible."

"I was taking a huge risk getting out of the Academy… they're probably at my dorm right now, looking for me since I didn't pay them today… the deal was that I got them Matt's tickets and they'd leave me alone… but they didn't, even though they thought I'd gotten them."

Tai raised a brow, "You told them you had them?"

"It bought me a little time to get out and come see you…" she bobbed her head down, avoiding his eyes. He felt a little concerned when she giggled lightly, "Stupid, really… I didn't even know if you could help, but I heaped my hopes on seeing you like it was my last chance… I'd heard from my roommate, Sora, that you were from the Natsu District, but then I ran into those guys while looking…"

_Those thugs…, _Tai rubbed the tip of his nose, leaning back into his couch seat, "So, you couldn't wait until morning like Matt said?"

Yuki grabbed the mug, and with shaky hands, took a sip, "T-the girls that take my money… Charity Urumi and Mizuho Kanada, they come every day to my room while Sora's at tennis practise, and they demand 2000 yen from my bank account… if I don't pay… I don't want to say it to a boy, but let's just say make-up alone doesn't cover it, not to mention they take photos… they use them to keep getting money from me…"

"I see…" Tai breathed in true Holmes Fashion, a low 'hmm' coming from him, "show me who they are tomorrow, I start as a special Council member then. I'm in charge of reforming bullies… to certain extents…"

Strangely, Yuki seemed to beam at this insinuation, a smile curling on her mouth, but keeping her eyes focused on her mug of coffee held atop her lap.

"But first," Tai intercepted Yuki's blissful silence, the girl looking blankly at him, "I want you to tell me everything; like how this started, what they do and if they have any weak spots."

"W-weak spots?"

"You know, like they did something before that they got into real trouble with, they're doing something against the rules in secret or are bullying more people than you."

That was weird…

Sora had flashed before his eyes, sitting where Yuki was sitting, with the same hapless look as she had in Home Ec. The same look, as if a replica, of Yuki's current expression of helpless fear.

Could that mean she also…?

Shaking his head, Yuki re-appeared to his eyes.

The girl leaned toward him, patting his shoulder, "T-Tai?" she asked in a shaky voice, "Are you alright? You sort of spaced out."

He softly pushed her hand off, "I'm fine, sorry. Just thinking about how best to teach a bully a lesson… since it's a pair of girls, I can't exactly overpower them or anything without serious consequences… so that means it'll have to be a plan… anyway, tell me about them."

Yuki prepared to confide her tale, breathing deeply, "It all began about half-way into the first year, so last year, put simply. They came across as so nice… I mean, they were both smarter than me, and helped me with homework and stuff back then. But then, they came to my dorm room one time for a get together and-,"

**SEVEN MONTHS AGO**

_There was a thunderous, obnoxious rapping at Yuki's door. It couldn't be Sora, as she had gone for tennis already. It had to be Charity and Mizuho- Yuki had said they could come for get togethers anytime, after all!_

"_Coming!" she whimsically called, walking across to the door and opening it, "Oh, you guys! Something wrong?"_

_Charity was the taller of the two, a full head over Yuki as well with short blonde hair and half opened green eyes, while Mizuho looked far more vibrant, her chestnut hair in a twin set of ponytails, and a large crescent smile across her face._

"_Hey, Yuki… listen, we really need to talk in private, so… can we come in?" Mizuho asked sweetly, Yuki looking baffled by the question, allowing them both instant admission and closing the door behind them._

"_What's up? It couldn't have waited until the morning?" the raven haired girl gingerly asked._

_Charity's voice was dulled, but had the stingy tang of a blade, "Well, Mizuho and I are putting a plan we always do when we're low on money into action… we're going to make a bit of money, do you want in on the process?"_

_A plan? Yuki was deposed, but slighted her head a little, "I… guess so?" she slowly said like a question._

"_Good!" Mizuho jittered, rummaging through her desk, locating her wallet and retracting her bank card, flashing it to Yuki, "Can you withdraw about 3000 yen for us? We need a little extra to buy some killer clothes!"_

"_I… don't understand… what's going on here?"_

_Suddenly, Charity used her height to her advantage, grabbing a clump of Yuki's hair and trying to hoist her up by it alone, rendering her immobile on her tip-toes._

"_**OW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?**__" she shrieked, coming near to crying in pain. This wasn't funny at all._

"_Go to the bank and get our money, loser. You see, our game is that we move in on friendless, brainless skanks like you, and get our money's worth." To affirm her point, she began dipping and tugging on the hair clump, some of it coming loose within her bony fingers._

_Yuki looked back into her eyes with fright, writhing against the hold on her hair, "W-what are you talking about? Why would I do that? Guys, we're friends, this isn't funny at all!"_

"_FRIENDS?" Charity gave a foul, lingering chortle, "Why would we, actually successful members of society and schooling, be friends with an idiot like you? You're just the latest in a long line of chumps that need our help to stay here with decent grades."_

_Dancing with the card in her hand, Mizuho chirped, "Of course, we could give your daddy the __**real **__results you've been getting… the ones where you barely scraped in with D's should suffice. Of course, from what I've heard, he's expecting a lot from you, what with being a divorced parent. Imagine the shock he'll get; that his daughter's an even greater failure than him."_

_She was getting blackmailed?_

_Charity giggled darkly, Mizuho looming in front of Yuki, "Of course, you think we're kidding. Well, here's a little hint of what's coming every time you don't pay us."_

_And with that, Charity punched her in the back, Mizuho going for a sternum shot._

**PRESENT DAY**

Yuki rubbed her stomach where she had been hit, jolted by the memory, "They weren't kidding… I met several girls in our year later who were being bullied by Charity and Mizuho… they were stupid like me… they needed those two to falsify papers for them. I need those two to stay in the school, and to make sure my dad keeps on thinking I'm doing well… he's always concerned, saying that I shouldn't turn out like him…"

Tai stood up, walked over to her and knelt before her seat on the couch, looking her dead in the eyes, "Listen, Yuki… those bitches are blackmailing you, plain and simple. So what if you have poor grades; look at me! I'm going there, and I don't even have anything over D besides in my Phys Ed. class."

"That's the problem… even if you help me," she felt water build at the bottom of her eyes, "what'll happen? Sure, the pain and financial stress would be gone, but… my grades would be revealed, my dad would be ashamed and it'd be even harder to find real friends if they always look down on you as being the stupid one."

Tai grabbed her arms, looking into her eyes kindly, "You forget; you're talking to a new friend, Yuki. Look at me today; I'm a total idiot, and according to one very pissed off girl, I'm a pervert for a bun I made. Yet I've already made a lot of friends, even though I was clearly stupid on my own in that class of smart kids, I still managed to make friends because I was honest with them and myself about who I was… if you want, I can help you make some friends as well. It isn't brains people admire; it's how kind and gentle you can be, and trust me, you've got that in spades; I can tell."

"Really?" she hesitantly asked in disbelief, almost crying in euphoric happiness when Tai nodded.

Standing up, he led her to the door, "It's time you headed back; _carefully this time_. I need to think up a plan. Come to the Council Building and talk to Rose at the front desk."

She blinked thrice, "One of the mega-geniuses of the entire Academy?"

Tai shrugged, "I don't know. Although it seems crazy, I _am_ the new kid."

oOo

The next morning came rather quickly after that. Yuki had already left to place herself back into her bed at Tenchu Academy grounds, leaving Tai the full night to consider plans to teach these girls a lesson. And boy, did he think of one.

If he got Rose's permission at the Council building, he could teach them a lesson, and keep Yuki from harm or extortion again, with the threat only being turned on him. Although he doubted they would talk after it happens.

He had made sure to get at least three hours rest, the last two he spent in front of the TV, flicking occasionally through channels as a sort of mediator for his thoughts.

He was disrupted from this as a vibration rummaged the inside of his uniform pocket, Tai pulling and flipping his mobile open, "It's from Matt… guess the time's here already."

Heading down in the elevator and sauntering to the front entrance, he found Matt parked a few feet away, gesturing for Tai to come inside his car.

Closing the door behind him, the Kamiya grunted, "I'm so tired… I don't think I'll survive today…"

"Don't worry, it's Tuesday; they always go by fast."

oOo

Sheesh!

Matt was going at the speed of slow like an old driver all the way! It's a sports model car, for Buddha's sake! Use some of that speed!

Anyways, Tai had been deposited at the front gates, and made his way to the Council Building as quickly as possible to avoid being late.

"Mornin', Rose!" he panted, jogging through the entrance and walking across to the desk the girl was sat at, "I need to ask you something."

"I already know; it's been shuffled already, and Mizuho and Charity are the ones you need to deal with today." She explained without looking away from her computer, indicating a small file on her desk, "Those are the reported and assumed breakings of the rules they have commited."

Opening the file, he found a single sheet of paper, reading like this;

'CHARITY URUMI & MIZUHO KANADA

Reported instances of physical assault x3

Money assumed to be extorted from 12 bullying victims estimated at 20,000 yen in the last 6 months

Note: Only bully those in their year classes

Data gathered by ROSE KOBAYASHI'

"Wow," Tai released as he scanned over the paper and focused on the difficult words like 'extorted', "you're like a detective, Rose. How did you get all this? Yuki said that she and the others were quiet about it."

"I know what to look for," she put simply, leaning back into her chair, "also, Yuki came and spoke to me in my dorm a few hours ago after seeing you. She was quite hysterical, to be sure. She said that she entrusted you with it completely."

He laughed, still looking the rapsheet over, "No pressure."

"Look at the flip side of the sheet," she suddenly said.

Flipping the page over, he found a little text on the back, his eyes widening as he read it.

"Really?" he chuckled, "You've done all the work for me. So, where are these exactly?"

"I put them in the Observatory. Take them down when you're done."

"Are there any copies, or do I have to bluff?"

Rose inhaled through her nose, looking half-heartedly at him, "I can make copies… if needs be."

oOo

The second day's lunchtime came rather fast, and it was rather docile, as Kai had to be absent with badly swollen cheeks and many lacerations and bruises from his whole 'Kai against the female population' thing yesterday.

Charity and Mizuho were around the shadowed side of the gym, a smaller girl from their year with long, chestnut hair pulled back by three hairclips, a broad pair of glasses shining and blotting out her fearful eyes; she was pushed against the wall with no escape.

"Well, Michelle?" Charity pushed her nose into her face threateningly, "Where is our money?"

Mizuho added, pushing a bony finger into Michelle's chest, "Or do you have to have bruises when you see that boy; Yuichi?"

"N-no!" she squealed, her hand trembling as she pulled a small bundle of notes from her handbag, "H-here's the 2,300 yen… please, just leave me alone today."

"You have no say in that, you ugly moose." Charity flitted through the notes quickly; counting 2,300 yen exactly, "What's this? Only 2,200?" she lied, faking a vile look of contempt.

Mizuho picked up on this, adopting a disgusting look as well, Michelle withdrawing in on herself between the pair and the wall of the gym.

"No! T-that's really 2,300! I swear!" she cried, terror in her watering eyes.

Charity slapped her hard, her head jerking in recoil and a welt on her face, "You lying whore! You were trying to short-change us! You owe us for faking your tests so you can stay here, so you can see that Yuichi kid every day, and yet you try a stunt like this?"

Rubbing her welt, Michelle felt her heart fall inside her, "B-but… it really is…"

"Your word is as valuable right now as your tuition fees!" Mizuho snarled, jabbing her in the gut and making her crumple to her knees, "Your mom and dad work like slaves for a failure like you, who has the audacity to not pay us, the ones keeping you here, and even dare try to love a boy way out of your league! Are you just out of your depth," she kicked her in the gut, drawing a small cry, "you failure? Why were you even born?"

"I-I'm sorry! Don't get me kicked out, please!" Michelle's face was sopping with tears as the pair kicked her in the arms and her gut where undefended; anywhere covered by her clothes above her skirt, "PLEASE, STOP!"

"HEY!" a male's voice howled, footsteps rapidly approaching. Running up to the bully duo, who backed away from Michelle like she was a bobcat, was Tai, who helped Michelle to her feet, eyeing the pair to ensure they didn't flee from this.

"Th-thank you…" she sniffed, wiping her nose and eyes with both her sleeves, grasping at her stomach where they had been kicking. She looked at him gratefully, "Um… do I know you?"

Her voice was strained, showing that she was withholding much emotion in front of the two bullies.

"That doesn't matter right now," he put it, short and sweetly, turning to Charity and Mizuho, the pair 'sweating bullets', as it might be said, "I know about you two. You're the bullies all the girls fear across campus; I can see why, unlike Mimi, you two aren't that pretty; you look like a gorilla's rear."

Charity's left arm winced, Tai preparing to dodge a strike, "Who do you think you are, insulting us like that? You're getting in the way of our business with Michelle," she flashed a violent glare at a behind-Tai retreated Michelle, "why should we care what some poor idiot thinks?"

_Fantastic, an elitist megalomaniac, _Tai recalled the term from when he looked for a Mimi descriptive word, "I'm with the Council, and I will throw your dumbasses in the cell."

Mizuho snorted, an imperial sneer on her face, "Like anyone would take a boy's word over ours; Tenchu keeps everything under wraps in that cell room, but it has a soft spot for thin girls with money, connections and good bodies."

_And she thinks her gender makes her capable of anything without problems, _Placing a hand back, he swatted it, signalling for Michelle to leave, but she shook her head, apparently to scared to move anywhere alone, "Fine… if I can't touch you for what you've done, how about I pay you to stop? Stop bullying anyone?"

"As if!" Charity cut him off, pointing at Michelle like an example, "do you know how profitable dumbass bitches like Michelle, Yuki and the others are? We just make C grade, barely scraping in grade papers for them, meaning minimum effort for plenty of shopping money! How could you possibly beat that?"

Mizuho giggled, "Plus, the bonuses are great! Like the fact these stupid girls will do anything we say! Be a punching bag, have sex with a band member to get us tickets for their concert, anything! If I threatened to rat out Michelle, she'd do you on the spot, she's so desperate to stay here so she can just stare at some boy instead of finding the stones to do anything about it!"

Looking back at Michelle behind his back, he saw that her cheekbones had become a crimson red, and she looked down at the heels of his shoes.

_These bitches, _he scowled, considering consoling Michelle, _I'm going to enjoy bringing them down._

"T-that's…" her voice was brittle, almost inaudible, "I-I-I…"

"Why don't you do it, Michelle? Right here, right now," Charity snickered, "or we send in an unsigned letter, and you get kicked out. Even better, we can go and tell Yuichi about your little soft spot, and introduce you with a few less teeth."

She cracked her knuckles menacingly, Mizuho leering forward, causing Michelle to pull back a little.

The chestnut haired victim still looked at Tai's heels, but slowly raised her hand, grabbing Tai's sleeve pitifully with her thumb and index finger, not looking him in the eye.

"P-please… just… don't tell him…" she worded weakly, Tai's eyes vacant of all but pity when he looked back at her.

"Told you~!" Mizuho sighed.

Tai felt his blood boil inside him like a kettle, but had to keep calm and cool…

"24, 000 yen." Tai put simply, surprising the pair, "I will give you that much to leave the girls alone for one month."

He saw interest in their eyes, and went on when they straightened up, listening.

"I have been storing money away for a rainy day, if you catch my drift. I keep it in the Observatory, but if it will spare all of the girls like Yuki and Michelle for at least a month. What do you say?"

"Take us to the cash." They both said almost instantly, "But Michelle comes too; we still need money, even if you're lying." She hissed like a foul, vile sceptic.

Boy, were these bullies dim.

oOo

On the roof of the main Tenchu Building, there was a two story tall Observatory with a closed viewing hole on the side and a curved, dome ceiling.

Michelle held onto Tai's sleeve in exactly the same way, following him like a soulless doll, trembling what with Mizuho and Charity strolling behind them, following him to his lump sum of cash as promised.

Opening the door on the first level of the Observatory, Charity and Mizuho barged past him and Michelle roughly into the unlit darkness of the room.

Closing the door behind them slowly, Tai rubbed Michelle reassuringly on the shoulder before heading off to the staircase to the second level, Matt approaching with a key in his hand as Tai left, locking the Observatory and leading Michelle away gently.

oOo

Looking back at the direction of the door in the darkness, Charity and Mizuho grew worried at the click, knowing they were sealed in the dark room.

"H-hey!" Charity barked back through the dark, "This isn't funny! We'll report you!"

"Charity, I knew we shouldn't have followed that asshole! He tricked us!" Mizuho deflected her own fit of stupidity a few moments ago. Lunch would end soon, and that meant that they would get in trouble themselves.

Suddenly, the lights of the Observatory flashed on, revealing Tai snickering on the second level walkway, looking down at the pair like it were podium.

But that was not all that was in the room.

Plastered on the walls of the Observatory were a variety of blown up photos of the pair bullying girls with their faces pixelated out to spare shame. How he obtained these photos when they carried out their extortion and bullying activities in dark corners… they were all computer lightened, making it clear what they were doing.

"These are-!" Charity felt a shudder, "You bastard!"

Mizuho went for the door of the Observatory, but found that it was, as they had feared, locked, looking up at Tai evilly, "DID MICHELLE LOCK US IN? OH, WHEN I GET OUT, I'LL MAKE HER REGRET BEING BORN!"

Tai upheld his smile, knowing this would be fool-proof, "Oh, that wasn't Michelle; I could tell she was too scared to do such a thing… so I got a friend of mine to lock that door and console her. Not that she'll be having any more problems."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Charity jeered, tearing two of the poster sized negatives of the wall next to her, "AS IF WE'D STOP BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT SOME PHOTOS HERE!"

"Oh, not just those," he shook his head, looking rather zen and omniscient, "several copies. I have several, not to mention others, ready for copying. Even if you did discount them, they are the genuine article, and you'd just waste peoples time by trying to discredit the photos. And not just that," he pulled his phone from his pocket, sifting through and opening 'RECORDINGS', "I have this, and I should thank you both for being so stupid that it actually worked."

Pressing play, the voice recordings of Charity and Mizuho recounted everything they had so openly announced back at the gym; ever sordid detail of their activities and belief they were untouchable.

Flicking the phone closed and pocketing it, Tai smiled, "Now then, since I have the photos and the voices admitting it, should I send it to the Dean first… or your parents?"

Mizuho and Charity flinched.

"Yeah, I know. I am a Council member, and I've seen your files. You both have perfect families, and your dads are business leaders, making you feel high class. However, they didn't pay much attention to you, making you like this. Imagine how angry they'd be if I send this off. They'd disown you for sure, which is worse than what they're doing now, right?"

"W-what do you want…" they both growled lowly, anger and tears in their eyes, their shoulders slumped in defeat.

"You'll repay everyone what you owe them, and then you'll leave them alone; also, you'll stop bullying. But… you'll also need to go to the Council Building and let Rose deal with you. No arguments."

First case, resolved without incident.

* * *

**A/N: **Good on you, Tai!

He's not doing a bad job, considering all the strange circumstances and familial problems, eh?

Don't forget to review.


End file.
